One of the leading contributing factors to American prisons
being so full is mandatory minimum sentence length. This means judges have to
give certain crimes a mandatory amount of prison time regardless of the
circumstances under which the crime was committed. This has caused many
unnecessarily long sentences, costing years off the lives of non-violent
offenders.
Minimum sentencing lengths began in the 1980’s when America
decided to crack down on crime. As a result the number of incarcerated adults
in America quadrupled. According a Washington post study that means 1
in every 100 American adults is incarcerated.
Almost 2,000,000 people.
Aside from boosting the prison population, Mandatory
minimums do not reduce crime. The fact is, at the time of the crime most
offenders are not even aware of the mandatory minimum placed on their offense.
They do not think they will be caught or prosecuted; they are just trying to
make money and survive.
Furthermore, minimum sentencing laws never effect big drug
kind pins they way you would hope they do. Small man drug dealers are caught on
the streets and have no information regarding the rest of the drug operation
because they are too low to know anything of value. But on the rare occasion
big drug kingpins are apprehended, they can take a plea deal and avoid serving
long minimum sentences, deals that low-level drug dealers do not have the Intel
to take. So these laws are not even serving their indented purpose of keeping
big drug dealers in jail longer.
Of course one of the main issues with keeping prisoners in
jail for longer is the cost to the taxpayer.
Not only is the cost of keeping a man in prison a waste, but the cost of
the arrest, prosecution and conviction waste millions of taxpayer dollars every
year.
Here are some examples of people whose lives have been
ruined thanks to minimum sentencing.
In 1996 Ott was caught caring 3 ½ ounces of meth and sentenced
to life
in jail. This was his third
drug related offense and thanks to the
Oklahoma 3 strikes rule, he was sentenced to the minimumsentence, life without parole. His mother has always dreamed he would be released. She is so hopeful that every year for the 21 years he has been in lock up she has bought him a Christmas present. So if he comes home, he will have year of presents waiting for him.
In 1999, Jones was convicted on one count of conspiracy to distribute
crack cocaine. It was her first offense, but nonetheless she received life in
prison with no chance of parole. She left behind an 8-year-old daughter when
she was sentenced. That daughter would now be 26. So because of one minor non-violent offense,
she has missed her whole daughters childhood.
Parker is currently serving a 42-year sentence for selling
less than 3 grams of crack cocaine. Parker also suffers from a several mental
illness, which he self medicated with marijuana. In order to continue buying marijuana,
Parker began selling crack. He saw the drug as his only way to cope with his crippling
mental illness. Because of the possession of the two drugs he we sentenced to a
mandatory minimum sentence of 42 years instead of receiving the help he so
desperately needs.
Mixon was only 21 when she was sentenced to 15 years for distributing
meth. She had been addicted
to meth ever since she was 15, and was in the
process of getting her life together. She was recovering and had recently just
gotten a new job. But, because of
mandatory minimum sentencing she received 15 years, loosing some of the prime
years of her life, right at the beginning of her fresh start.
These is just a few of the many many thousands of cases in
which mandatory minimum sentencing has negatively impacted, and effectively
ruined, the lives of American all over the country. There are not many ways out
of these sentences either. In fact, if the laws stay as they are, the only way
out would be an official pardon of the governor the their respective states or
the president of the United States. While president Obama did recently hand out
many pardons to non-violent offenders serving mandatory minimum sentences,
there is still a lot of work to be done to free those unfairly serving.
What do you think about Mandatory Minimum sentences? Should they
be done away with? Are they every just?
Let me know!
These stories are shocking, it blows my mind that someone like Sharanda was given life when her crime was only conspiracy. In some cases, I believe that minimum sentencing is necessary, but many situations it only makes a negative impact. Can't wait for the next post!
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ReplyDeleteI was not aware of these issues with minimum sentence until reading your blog. Your case studies allowed me to truely understand the devasting affect that this brings about and understand it on a deeper level. It is no longer just a number but a human life, a face. Wow this issue is disheartening...
ReplyDeleteWe have a serious problem with the way our law/prison systems work. More and more these days, we see sentences that don't seem to fit the crimes they're associated with. I'm pretty sure we hold the world's largest incarcerated population, and that just isn't right. I think our government should really rethink what it's been doing.
ReplyDeleteUsing examples in this post made it really eye opening. Sometimes it's hard to put a face to the problem and see the people whose lives were wrecked by something that likely should have been changed many years ago, and seeing these people who have been affected by mandatory minimums definitely changed my view on them. I have never put much thought into the topic, but it's crazy to know that people are getting life imprisonment for a non-violent offense. As a big supporter of rehabilition rather than imprisonment for many drug related offenses, I completely believe that they should be done away with. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI personally am not a fan of minimum sentencing primarily because the length is always high. I agree that these sentences are too long for anyone to serve for petty thefts and I also believe that addiction is something that should be treated as an illness and shouldn't be disregarded. Yet your blog is very biased and I know people push weight to get by but I don't agree with the distribution of hard drugs because they ruin lives. It's disgusting and I feel as if we shouldn't destroy our communities by selling those drugs, likewise we shouldn't destroy our communities by sentencing people to outrageous years for something like that.
ReplyDeleteYour blog post really made me open my mind up to how much damage mandatory minimums can cause to not only an individual, but their family as well. I think that the "tough on crime era" truly needs more light shed on the it, and its relevancy questioned in present day. You really made your post have a deeper message with the stories and pictures. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteThere are two sides to every story. In a way I agree that this is a waste of taxpayer dollars, and a waste of life. But I also think that jail for relatively minor offenses is a necessary form of discipline. If the person was not informed in some way (in school, upbringing, etc.) that, for lack of a better word, drugs are bad... how will they every learn their lesson? The life sentence for drugs is sad because it gives the offender no chance to change. However, I believe that if a person is going to get into drugs (taking or distributing them), they should understand the consequences that lie ahead, serve their time, and then hopefully shape up. If someone decides to do something illegal, they should be punished for it.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a good, and sometimes controvercial point. Minimum sentencing could be handled in a different way I belive, possibly a case to case basis. The examples really support your ideas and standpoint.
ReplyDeleteThis is a such a complex and touchy subject. I think the whole "War on Drugs" and major crackdowns/waste of tax dollars is such a failure. I never knew about this minimum sentence deal, and I think it could be a decent or an atrocious thing depending on how stringent the state that an offender is arrested and processed in. However, you have to remember these people are, for the most part, doing illegal things. With the exception of Sharanda, I don't feel too much sympathy for them because we all know the consequences of illegal activity and how corrupt the system is. I hope, however, to see some major changes in American criminal justice to better serve the people (recovering addicts, mental handicapped individuals, etc.) Very interesting post!
ReplyDeleteWow, that was just alot of great information that I didn't know about. Personally, I think mandatory minimums suck, especially when they are placed on the people who's crimes are the lowest of crimes. After reading this it just reminded me of how corrupt our prison system is. Its sad to see that people caring small onces of drugs get sentenced to life, but people who are getting charged with sexual assault get off between 7-10 years or for some as we know less than a year sentence because our judges feel as though they will not function will in jail or it may have futher impacts on their life. We never look a the real problem, which is the lack of help (mental health support) that people need who are struggle. Also, our officials fail to take care of the people with sustainable employment for their families. This is just a continuous cycle that will never stop spinning. Great Post!!
ReplyDeleteI think judges should wisely use their discretion and take all measure into consideration, especially when setencing people for non-violent crimes or first offenses. Although, if they are required to sentence a minimum amount of years, wouldn't they be breaking the law if they didn't?
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