Mandatory sentencing

According to Mary Price, a lawyer for an advocacy group against mandatory minimums: “Over the past several years, the tone of the discussion about incarceration has changed dramatically. We have come to the realization that our punitive approach to drug crimes is not working and has produced significant injustices” (qtd in Horwitz). Changing America’s approach to crime, specifically drug crimes, and incarceration would allow the country to reduce spending, and overcrowding in prisons. Changing…

charges. Mandatory sentencing laws and policies provide little to no discretion in regards to enforcement. The California Three Strikes Law is an example of a mandatory sentencing policy. The law states that a person who commits a serious felony after two or more “strikes” will be sentenced to minimum of twenty-five years to life in prison. The “seriousness” of the felony is a new consideration that was implemented in 2012 (Couzens & Bigelow, 2012, "California's Three Strikes Sentencing Law").…

people serving long sentences for nonviolent crimes like drug offenses. Some would argue that due to the significant negative impact drugs has on communities these sentences are just. Most human and civil rights groups are in favor of abolishing the sentencing structure that has led to this massive prison population. Whatever side of the argument you favor, one can agree that there is simply no excuse that a country that espouses freedom for all should incarcerate so many of its citizens. The…

According to the Sentencing Project, which is a non-profit organization that promotes reduced reliance on incarceration and increased use of more effective alternatives to deal with crime, states that the United States correctional system of the past thirty years has been characterized by a population increasing the exponentially in response to changes in policy towards mandatory minimum and determinate sentencing (Sentencing). In other words, individuals convicted of a crime today are more…

The second policy initiative that this memorandum proposes to positively impact mass incarceration is ASC (A Second Chance) which deals with reentry. Fiscal savings from the sentencing aspects of the New Orleans plan will be invested in programs to lower recidivism and help convicts get back on their feet. In the state of Louisiana, convicts will be eligible for welfare programs and student loans, encouraging ex-cons to pursue a college education will be a priority for entry and welfare programs…

000 for one year in prison whereas, the Sentencing Reform and Correction Act only reduces the amount of time spent in jail or prison. As a result, the prevention and treatment programs are still more cost effective than the Sentencing Reform and Correction Act. This is one reason why prevention and treatment programs such as the No Entry Strategy programs, are a better solution for reducing drug offenses affecting the incarceration rate than the Sentencing Reform and Correction…

recidivism that results in high rates of incarceration are the punitive sentencing guidelines. It is acknowledged that the sentencing policies of the war on drugs era resulted in rapid growth in imprisonment for drug charges. Additionally, severe sentencing laws such as mandatory minimums keep offenders convicted of drug charges in prison for lengthier periods of time (NeSmith, 2015). Harmon (2013) states that because the mandatory minimum statutes are written so generally, many low-level…

colossus in confinement. In fact, the policy reforms that increased the rate of incarceration is the anti-drug reform and the sentencing reform that has negatively impacted the economy by quadrupling its institutionalized population from eight hundred thousand in 1970 to four million inmates in 2008 according to Carla J Virlee author of "Offenders In The Community: Reshaping Sentencing And Supervision". Additionally, the U.S makes up 5% of the world’s population and yet institutionalizes 25% of…

“judicial discretion is in sentencing?” Judicial discretion gives judges the right to use discretion when sentencing the offender to prison or jail. Over the past decades judicial discretion has waned and more decisions are made by a jury in criminal courts. The fact that most sentencing hearings are now decided by juries gives the offender the chance to fight for themselves. The writer provides statistical data on how legislatures write laws to affect criminal sentencing. The writer…

incarcerated for it? During colonial times, criminal sentencing in America was introduced initially on retribution and then later on in prevention. By the late 1800s, sentencing in America had become dominated by rehabilitation. The goal of criminal punishment was to transform the offender by changing their ability to commit crime again. In order to accomplish this, sentencing needed to be uniquely flexible per individual. This led to “intermediate sentencing,” named because the exact term of…