MANDATORY MINIMUMS

MANDATORY MINIMUMS

Alex W. & Jordan F.

Monday, March 6, 2017

Honors American Crime & Punishment

Mandatory Minimums Should Be For Third Offenses

"Mandatory Minimum sentencing laws require binding prison terms of a particular length for people convicted of certain federal and state crimes" (What are mandatory minimums?).

As they are, mandatory minimums give the prisoners no chance and send them straight into the system without a a fair, circumstantial trial.

Right now mandatory minimums are set for certain offenses, but this does not take the whole case into account. Without considering circumstances and details of what happened it sends the person straight behind bars for a set amount of time. For a first offense, some minimums can be as long as 20 years in prison with no parole. Each case that goes before a jury has a story behind it and that means each case should be treated differently. Having a set mandatory minimum is not how the justice system is intended to handle someone's future because the whole reason for mandatory minimums is for efficiency without taking all the details into account for the right consequence for each crime.

Sentencing Laws

Congress In Works To End Mandatory Minimums

Public Officials On Both Sides Want It To End

"On November 6, 2012, California voters passed Proposition 36. Almost 70 percent of

voters supported its changes to the “three strikes and you’re out” mandatory minimum

law, which required a life sentence for a third offense, even if it was minor or petty

(e.g., stealing a slice of pizza). Proposition 36 requires that mandatory minimum life

sentences can only be imposed for a third strike if the third conviction is for a serious

or violent felony. The reforms were also made retroactive, allowing judges to reduce

sentences for about 3,500 prisoners serving life for non-serious or non-violent third

convictions, if the person does not pose an unreasonable risk to public safety.

Proposition 36 is projected to save the state $70-$100 million annually" (Recent State-Level Reforms To Mandatory Minimum Laws).

"Statutes imposing mandatory minimum sentences result in arbitrary and severe punishments that undermine the public’s faith in America’s criminal justice system" (Larkins).

Mandatory minimums are costly. If the same deterrence comes from a 1 year and 5 year sentence, why pay for 4 extra unnecessary years?

The Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013 applies to all mandatory minimums and the Smart Sentencing Act applies to all drug offenses. These are two highly supported Acts to end mandatory minimums.

“The weight of the evidence clearly shows that enactment of mandatory penalties has either no demonstrable marginal deterrent effects or short-term effects that rapidly waste away.” -Professor Michael Tonry

The current draconian mandatory minimum sentences sometimes result in sentencing outcome that neither fit the crime nor the perpetrator’s unique circumstances". -Sen Ted Cruz

Works Cited:

Reform

Unfair Sentencing

"Mandatory minimum sentences are the product of good intentions, but good intentions alone do not make good policy; good results are also necessary" (Larkin).

Weldon Angelos Case

Federal Judge Paul Cassell thought "55 years was absurd" and that he deserved "8-10 years, based on the sentencing guidelines".

"Repeat child rapists and airplane hijackers get much shorter sentences".

Nearly 40% of prisoners today are serving a mandatory minimum sentencing and most of those are non-violent crimes.

Weldon Angelos established a record label and recorded songs with big artists. He used and sold marijuana. In 2002 he sold $1,000 in marijuana to on individual three times. According to federal law, “one count of possessing a gun “in furtherance” of a drug crime adds a mandatory prison term of five years to the underlying sentence. Every count after the first adds another 25 years” (Lisa Angelos: 55 Years Behind Bars: Why Mandatory Minimums Need Reform).

"Mandatory minimum sentences for gun offenses can and do send people away for decades, even if the gun owner has a right to own the gun and never uses it to threaten or harm anyone".

(Lisa Angelos: 55 Years Behind Bars: Why Mandatory Minimums Need Reform.)

History:

"Congress has used mandatory minimum penalties since it enacted the first federal penal

laws in the late 18th century. The Constitution authorizes Congress to establish criminal offenses and to set the punishments for those offenses. Congress created the first comprehensive series of federal offenses with the passage of the 1790 Crimes Act, which specified 23 federal crimes" (USSC). Seven out of the 23 had a mandatory death penalty. Mandatory minimums were also used to try and end slave importation. From fire arms offenses to drug offenses, mandatory minimums grew for the "efficiency" of the system hoping to create deterrence.