Mandatory Minimum Sentences For Nonviolent Drug Crimes Essay

Mandatory Minimum Sentences For the vast majority of crimes committed in the United States, the fate of those who have been found guilty is left in the hands of a judge, after a trial by jury. However, since the 1950’s the fate of nonviolent drug offenders has been shifted to the hands of the partisan prosecution with the expansion of mandatory sentencing. Mandatory minimum sentencing is a system which sets minimum jail sentences for crimes, which not even judges can overturn. In the decades after the 1950s, with the increasing war on drugs, minimum sentencing laws have spread further and further into nonviolent drug related crimes, the effects of which have been almost universally negative. Mandatory minimum sentencing for nonviolent drug crimes has proved to be a cost ineffective system which exacerbates the problem of mass incarceration while failing to deter crime, provide rehabilitation, and lower drug usage. Since the expansion of mandatory minimums, incarceration rates have gone up exponentially. So much so that today, more than half of federal prisoners are in on drug related offenses, most of which are low level offenders (Gross, 68). The problem with this is that one of the ideas behind mandatory minimums is that low level offenders with no chance of getting off, can hope to reduce their sentences by providing information on individuals higher up in drug gangs. The problem with this idea is that according to Stephen Schulhofer, Director of the Center for StudiesShow MoreRelatedIt s Time For Re Think Mandatory Minimums1607 Words   |  7 PagesIt’s Time to Re-think Mandatory Minimums During the mid-1980’s an epidemic of cocaine and crack swept the nation leaving many wondering what could be done to eliminate this problem that reached everywhere from small town middle America to the larger metropolitan areas. It has always been the common acceptance that by putting more offenders in jail, crime statistics will decrease. This belief led congress to enact the anti-drug abuse act of 1986. At first, it was believed that this seemed to workRead MoreMandatory Minimum Sentences For Nonviolent Drug Related Offences1031 Words   |  5 PagesMandatory minimum sentences are the backbone of a racially unjust, overpopulated, and overpriced criminal justice system. The Smarter Sentencing Act is a bill that aims to reduce the mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug related offences. â€Å"The United States has five percent of the world’s population, and twenty five percent of the world’s prisoners. Our prison population has grown eight hundred p ercent in the last thirty years, mostly because of changes in state and federal sentencingRead MoreMandatory Minimum Sentencing On Violent Crimes Essay1492 Words   |  6 PagesJ’son West Nov. 12. 2016 CJ 202 Canon Mandatory Minimum Sentencing on Violent Crimes Crime in America is growing at a substantial rate and repeat offenders are playing a huge roll in this growth. Mandatory minimum sentences, first established in Connecticut in 1969 and expanded throughout the 1980s and 1990s, exemplify a shift in public policy to impose a specific amount of imprisonment based on the crime committed and the defendant’s criminal history, and away from other individual offender characteristicsRead MoreMandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws Should Be Legal1150 Words   |  5 Pagescapital of the world is due to the hard stance on all drugs. This stance led to the use of mandatory minimum sentencing laws to keep drug offenders locked up for longer than they should be. Mandatory minimum sentencing laws are laws that require binding prison terms of a particular length for people convicted of certain federal and state crimes. Most mandatory minimum sentences apply to drug offenses, but Congress has enacted them for other crimes, including certain gun, pornography, and economic offensesRead MoreThe Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws1528 Words   |  7 PagesCommon crimes in the judicial system include drug offenses, firearm offenses, and sexual assault, and the depending on the judge the repercussions could vary. To have unvaried penalties, mandatory minimum sentencing laws were enacted. These laws help keep citizens protected, while criminals are incarcerated. John Oliver, the host of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, talks about how mandatory minimum sentencing increases the number of criminals incarcerated, and he believes the length of their prisonRead MoreNonviolent Drug Offenders During The United States885 Words   |  4 PagesAs the amount of nonviolent drug offenders increases, so does the amount of prisoners in jail. With only 5 percent of the world’s population, the United States has 25 percent of the world’s total prison population. Between 1980 and 2013, the amount of people in federal prison for drug offenses has increased from 4,749 to 100,026, and the total federal prison population as increased almost 790 percent. To manage the sharp increase in the inmate population in recent years, the bureau that manages theRead MoreEssay about Negative Consequences of Mandatory Sentencing747 Words   |  3 PagesNegative Consequences of Mandatory Sentencing In recent years several mandatory sentencing laws have been put into motion. The original goals of the mandatory sentencing laws were to stop repeat offenders and to exhibit a get tough attitude on crime. These laws have not been working as intended, instead mandatory sentencing has led to some unfortunate consequences. Some of these consequences are overcrowding in prisons and less prison based rehabilitation. Mandatory sentencing laws do not narrowlyRead MoreWelfare Against Mandatory Minimum Law1143 Words   |  5 PagesAgainst Mandatory Minimum also known as FAMM advocate for smart sentencing such as individualized and fair criminal sentencing that protect the public. FAMM is nonprofit supported by attorneys, judges, criminal justice experts and concerned citizens. Their objectives include: uncrowding jails, which use citizens tax money, shift resources from uncrowded jails due to excessive incarceration to other departments such as law enforcement and additional programs whos e aims include reducing crime and recidivismRead MoreThe Incarceration Rate Of The United States1543 Words   |  7 Pagesland of freedom and opportunity. As the Pledge of Allegiance states, â€Å"One nation under God, Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.† However, under the current criminal justice system, more and more people lose their liberties because of the crimes they have committed. According to Roy Walmsley, a consultant of the United Nations and Associate of the International Center for prison studies, â€Å"In October 2013, the incarceration rate of the United States of America was the highest in the worldRead MoreMandatory Minimums Should Not Be Mandatory911 Words   |  4 PagesThose who oppose mandatory minimums argue that longer sentences cost too much, are ineffective in reducing drug related crimes, and do not allow for lenience in extenuating circumstances. The average cost of keeping a single prisoner incarcerated in federal prison for a year is approximately $30,619.85 (Prisons Bureau, and Department of Justice), multiply that number by the typical five years in prison mandatory minimum policy demands for minor drug crimes as well as multiplying it by the approximate