Mandatory sentencing laws are laws formulated by the legislature requiring offenders to serve a fixed amount of predetermined jail time for committing certain crimes. The laws were a move by the legislature to expedite the judicial sentencing process while at the same time eliminating the possibility of variant outcomes on the same crime due to judicial discretion reasons. Considering that the laws are federal and formulated by the Congress in America, they are all common in America. However, its application in different courts might vary as some sentences prescribe the maximum or the minimum sentence for variant crimes. Different states have also statutes that can vary in implementation from the mandatory sentencing law (Albonetti, 2016). This move was implemented as a way of deterring general offenders or repeat criminals from committing crimes which they know the sentence if they get caught.
These laws have had a huge impact in America especially in giving prosecutors what has been viewed as too much leverage. The prosecutors have been accused of using these laws to coerce defendants to plead guilty and face harsh sentences without being their constitutional right to express themselves (Luna, 2017). This has shifted the powers in the courts from the judges to prosecutors undermining the purpose of the courts in determining the sentences on evidence presented. These laws have also been condemned by the judicial system because they force them to enact sentences that are harsher than necessary to certain offenders (Sundt et al., 2019).
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These laws have significantly increased the racial disparities in the justice system without even improving public safety any bit. Available data has shown white criminals in comparison to the nonwhite offenders are more likely to be sentenced below the mandatory minimum sentence for similar crimes committed. Finally, these laws have drained the state with various cost implications involved in correction centers due to the increased number of prisoners especially the aging people who are more cost consuming to maintain (Figueroa, 2019).
References
Albonetti, C. A. (2016). Mandatory minimum penalties. Advancing Criminology and Criminal Justice Policy , 155.
Figueroa, M. (2019). The Monetary and Social Costs of Mandatory Sentencing Laws. Retrieved from http://sheldensays.com/costsofmandatorysentencing.htm
Luna, E. (2017). Mandatory minimums. Reforming criminal justice: A report of the Academy for Justice on bridging the gap between scholarship and reform , 4, 117-146.
Sundt, J., Schwaeble, K., & Merritt, C. C. (2019). Good governance, political experiences, and public support for mandatory sentencing: Evidence from a progressive US state. Punishment & Society , 21(2), 141-161.
