Against Mandatory Minimums

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Men, woman, and young adults in America are being affected by mandatory sentencing due to petty drug crimes. The citizens that are being sentenced fifteen to twenty years, while taxpayers are having to pay millions for the over stay in prison. The government uses mandatory minimums to teach convicts that they will be punished to the full extent of the law just for a few grams of marijuana. In the past decade, mandatory minimums have increased the amount of convictions involving minor drug charges. One of the underlining problems with mandatory sentencing is the long term affects it has on the inmate even after released. Mandatory sentencing is also for other charges such as; sexual assault, murder, and other major crimes. In those cases, the convicted are only serving nine years, which is not long enough for the crimes that have been committed. Affecting the judicial …show more content…

This unconstitutional punishment goes against American morals because convicts have a right to a fair trial, stated in the Fifth Amendment. Due to mandatory minimums, any significant facts are unimportant, because the defendant had drugs and therefore must serve twenty years in prison. For example, judges are against mandatory sentencing laws, due to evidence and the reason the defendant committed their crime (Izadi). America has used the same court system for over two-hundred years, it was not perfect, but it does not go against the constitution unlike mandatory sentencing. In every case, there are reasons why individual committed a crime, or why they felt they had to commit a crime to make a living. With sentencing laws, if a crime has taken place involving drugs then the amount of time served is based on the weight of drugs. There are many prisons that are overpopulated and cannot serve the needs of every

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