1. Mandatory Minimums
Mandatory minimum sentencing has been used for hundreds of years to lock those who commit crimes away for a guaranteed amount of time or to guarantee that the person in question receive a minimum fine. Initially, mandatory minimum sentencing conventions came about at the same time federal crimes were invented, with the passage of the 1790 Crimes Act (“History of Mandatory Minimum Penalties and Statutory Relief Mechanisms”). The modern version of mandatory minimum sentencing laws have come to only be applied to certain types of crimes, such as drug crimes, weapons charges, criminal possession of pornography, and illegal immigration, among other things.
2. Prejudice
While many favor mandatory minimum sentencing due to the fact that it eliminates the personal biases of the judge and jury in many federal cases through having a prejudice against or sympathy for a defendant, it can also be stated that it puts the power of prejudice or sympathy squarely in the hands of the prosecution team. This is because of the fact that the prosecution can then pick and choose the crimes that they wish to prosecute for, rather than the crimes the person may or may not have actually committed.
The question of prejudice also comes up in criminal apprehension, with a case to be made in the number of members of minority groups being prosecuted each year for certain crimes, such as drug crimes, versus their white cohorts. It has been definitively shown that a disproportionate amount of minorities are incarcerated due to drug convictions even though the use among racial groups is similar.
Prejudice comes into play even further when considering what drugs are punishable by what sentence. Drug offenses that involve drugs that have been shown to be used predominantly by African Americans are prosecuted much more harshly than similar drugs that are used predominantly by white Americans. As of 2014 the Drug Quantity Table, the guidebook judges use to sentence drug offenders, 2.7g of crack is an equivalent crime as 49g of powder cocaine (“2014 Guidelines Manual”). It’s simple to see that while it takes prejudice out of the hands of the judge and jury, it places it firmly in the hands of the prosecution and the system at large.
3. The Prison System
Mandatory minimum sentences are said to reduce crime but they flood an overcrowded prison system with long-term non-violent offenders. “Non-violent” is important since there are very few violent crimes, outside of murder, that are punishable by mandatory minimums. This means that many drug offenders are treated the exact same way as someone who committed first-degree murder or a crime against a child.
For a more poignant, specific example, possessing 280g of crack or 5kg of cocaine can potentially lead to a sentence of life in prison. Compare that with the sex trafficking of a child under 14, which only has a mandatory minimum of 15 years. Compare the drug offence, yet again, with the mandatory minimum for the murder of a child under 18: 30 years.
4. Addiction
As many mandatory minimums are leveled against drug offenses, even possession, it fills the legal system, from jails, to trial courtrooms, to prisons, with non-violent offenders who need treatment rather than a prison sentence. For instance, a person who is in possession of 2g of crack cocaine is, more than likely, not intending to distribute the drug. More often than not the person is the user of said drug. Unfortunately for that person it comes with a harsh mandatory minimum as they are a level 12 drug offender. It becomes even worse when considering that one person in possession of 2.8g of crack cocaine can potentially have several years added to their sentence compared to a person who was in possession of 2.7g of crack cocaine.
Again, this simply fills the prison system with non-violent offenders who would benefit significantly more from drug and alcohol classes than several years of prison time.
5. Conclusion
Mandatory minimum laws should be completely and totally done away with due to the nature of prejudice and sympathy inherent in the legal system, the power that sentences give to the prosecution, the already bloated state of the prison system in America, and the deplorable treatment of addicts as criminals.
Works Cited
“2014 Guidelines Manual.” 2014 Guidelines Manual. United States Sentencing Commission, 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. <http://www.ussc.gov/guidelines-manual/2014/2014-chapter-2-d>
“History of Mandatory Minimum Penalties and Statutory Relief Mechanisms.” History of Mandatory Minimum Penalties and Statutory Relief Mechanisms. United States Sentencing Commission. Web. 17 Apr. 2016. <http://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/news/congressional-testimony-and-reports/mandatory-minimum-penalties/20111031-rtc-pdf/Chapter_02.pdf>.
