Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

Paper Summary:

The writer of this paper suggests that the solution to the problem of increased crime statistics is to do away with mandatory minimum sentencing and promote get-tough-on-crime measures by focusing on violent crime. The paper discusses how evidence laws should be tightened in cases of "conspiracy" to prevent the abuse of the system and rewarding upper-level dealers at the expense of the low-level dealer or associate. People should also be made aware of the reality of mandatory minimum sentencing.

From the Paper:

"One hears a lot of talk nowadays about how politicians are getting tough on crime. The national prison population as a percentage of the total population is in America higher than in any other country. Currently about 2 million people are in jail. 10% of all men in America, and a third of all black men, will be incarcerated at some point. To defeat this trend, states such as Oregon often consider "get soft on crime" measures that cut back sentencing for serious offenders such as murderers and rapists. We regularly hear of murderers and psychotic child molesters serving only a couple years before being released. Murders, we are told, have to be released after only five or ten years because there simply isn't enough room to hold all of them. The average sentence served (in 1995) for rape and homicide was between five and six years; more minor crimes like robbery averaged under four years. So why are our jails so full, and are there really that many murderers? The answer, of course, lies in the fact that well over a third of the prison population consists of non-violent drug offenders serving minimum sentences. For example, the mandatory minimum sentence for "conspiracy" to sell drugs (even if no drugs were ever directly found on the offender) is ten or twenty years depending on the amount of drugs alleged to be involved. Unlike other categories of crime, since conspiracy is a crime of intention rather than commission, no physical evidence is necessary and hear-say allegations are sufficient for conviction. Serving minimum sentences without parole, the average drug offender will stay in prison twice as long as the average murderer. Minimum mandatory sentencing laws for drug offenders impose draconian sentences on non-violent low-level offenders, filling the jails and creating pressure to release violent offenders, while removing power of discretion from judges to assure that the crime and sentence are in proportion."

More papers on Mandatory Minimum Sentencing:

• Essay # 27425 : "Mandatory Minimum Sentencing"
• Analytical Essay # 131087 : "Mandatory Minimum Sentencing in Canada"
• Argumentative Essay # 101037 : "Canadian Mandatory Minimum Sentences"
• Essay # 39201 : "Mandatory Minimum Sentences."

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: