Mandatory Minimum Sentences In Jail

Mandatory Minimum Sentences are over exaggerated and harsh sentences criminals have to follow while they are in jail. This all started to prevent and stop crime for possession of any and all drug possession. Many victims are the cause of Mandatory Minimum Sentences sadly, which causes many problems dealing with family abandonment, budget expenses, or prison overcrowding. The amount of individuals that go to jail are more than any other prison because half of them are filled with people who didn’t do anything to hurt themselves, others or society around them. Although mandatory minimum sentences stop crime and arrest criminals, it actually puts innocent who don’t deserve such harsh sentences in jail for unwarranted amounts of time. When …show more content…
Holder explains the prisons budget is costing the problem, “The over reliance… not just financially untenable, it comes with human and moral costs… impossible to calculate.” (Brown, 1) Federals spend all the money on prisons when they should be spending it on education, healthcare, or medical; which is important to the world. Another issue is the harsh sentences criminals receive in jail, “Currently an individual convicted, distributing 280 grams of crack or 1 kilogram… recieves… sentences of 10 years in federal prison.” (Brown, 1) Non-violent criminals receive a greater number of sentences than violent criminals, such as kidnapping 2nd degree, manslaughter 1st degree with a firearm, assault, robbery or burglary. Problems like this cause the system of what should be right turn out wrong. Sadly, such violent crimes including some of those and more won’t be looked over twice unless they prove them wrong of the expected …show more content…
Moreover, there is evidence that says it decreases drug possession and violence, federal judges can argue otherwise. Often, innocent people go to jail for harmless acts for an unreasonable amount of time in jail, for a one time use or a non-violent act of drug use. If federal court systems continue laws of Mandatory Minimum sentences, they need to question and use evidence to support whether the individual is really guilty or innocent. Sadly, the prosecutors might not understand what goes through a potential criminals mind when being interrogated for a crime that wasn’t even a crime. Today, Mandatory Minimum Sentences might not be commonly used in everyday speech, but just because it’s not mentioned in the newspapers or on a flashing ad that comes up on your computer screen doesn’t mean it still doesn’t exist today. The problem keeps evolving as we do which not only causes issues for the federal court system and how they run their jobs each and every day, but also the criminals that are being accused for such acts that had no effect whatsoever. However, in many articles and even the current political debate of 2016 to 2017, Mandatory Minimum Sentences is still mentioned even of today. It may not be spoken out loud, but it is thought of every single