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Mandatory minimum sentencing in the united states
Prosecutorial discretion pros and cons
Mandatory minimum sentencing in the united states
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The decision to charge or drop charges, what type of charge (such as felony or misdemeanor), or whether to offer a plea, are just a sample of the many powers that prosecutors hold. The greatest form of accountability currently on prosecutorial power are elections. However, despite this, there is still a gap between the powers of a prosecutor and the amount of accountability they hold to the people they serve. This often is a result of many prosecutors across the country running in unopposed elections or elections hinging on the outcomes of individual, high profile cases. Given the vast amounts of power prosecutors hold and how this power is exercised at various stages of the justice system, data-driven prosecution has the potential to provide more accountability for prosecutors.
In 1971, 1 out of 12 Americans were incarcerated. Since that time, the prisoner ratio has exponentially increased; today, that ratio is 1 out of 51. With that number continuing to rise, many problems result out of it. Prison overcrowding is a growing problem in the United States. The number of people being taken in has regressive effects on the purpose behind imprisonment.
These mandatory sentences made small crimes big crimes. Meaning people convicted of these crimes were locked away with other felons while getting no treatment for their addiction. Once released these people are now labeled as an Ex-Convict, now making it difficult to find a job and support their family. Once they finally realize that they can't get a job to make enough money to support their family they now go back to the one activity that they know will make money and that is the drug game. This is a vicious cycle that repeats itself over and
The role of the government is to keep everyone and everything in line. The government should have a sentencing reform because with the system we have now it 's just making things worse. Some people are being placed in jail because of their color when there are real criminals that are set free when they really did do something wrong like murdering someone. The government should have a sentencing reform because the system now is just making things worse. To begin with, The government should have a sentencing reform because the system now is just making things worse.
INTRODUCTION The United States incarcerates a greater percentage of the population than any country in the world (CBS, 2012). According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, over 2.3 million adults were incarcerated in federal and state prisons, and county jails in 2013. There are an additional 820,000 people on parole and 3.8 million people on probation (Wagner & Rabuy, 2016) Jail and prison differ primarily in regards to the length of stay for inmates.
Supermax prisons, also known as secure housing units (SHUs) or administrative maximum (ADX) facilities, have been a controversial topic in the criminal justice system for several decades. These facilities are designed to hold the most dangerous and high-risk prisoners, who pose a threat to other inmates or staff members. However, the conditions in these facilities have raised questions about whether they are actually contributing to the mental and physical decline of the prisoners, or if the descriptions of these conditions are exaggerated. Critics of supermax prisons argue that the extreme isolation and sensory deprivation in these facilities can cause mental illness and a variety of physical ailments. It is well-documented that social isolation can have significant impacts on a person's mental health.
As we know, there are many ways criminals can be punished. When sentencing happens, the defendant is usually sentenced to the following punishments, listed from minor to extreme: Fines Community service Diversion programs Probation GPS monitoring Jail Prison Death penalty (Rio Salado, 2022). Most of these punishments can be listed under either the utilitarian or retributive theory of punishment. The utilitarian theory seeks to punish offenders to 'deter' future wrongdoings.
What are your thoughts about the prison system? Today 's prisons are so bad that prisons in the United States hold 5 percent of the US population. Many people get sent to jail cause of the 3 law strike because a lot of minorities are caught with drugs. Plus the government is wasting 75 billion dollars on these facilities instead of using the money in a better way like making programs for the prisoners that need help with mental health or other stuff.
In the early 1980s, the United States declared an all-out war on drugs and over the past several decades the United States of America has traveled down a dark road when it comes to sentencing for drug offenses. One of the major tools that they used in this war on drugs is the mandatory sentencing laws. These laws were enacted in 1984 to help combat and get violent drug dealers off our streets. What these laws did was set a mandatory minimum sentence that stated if you are arrested for fifteen or more grams of crack cocaine, you would be charged as if you had five hundred grams of powder cocaine thus getting you a minimum of a ten year sentence in prison. If you are arrested for growing 100 marijuana plants under these draconian laws, you would be charged as if you were possession of 100 pounds of marijuana which carries a minimum of a five-year
Defined as a public policy that imposes an outlined amount of prison time based on the crime committed and the defendant’s criminal history, these sentences dictate that a judge must enact a statutory fixed penalty on individuals convicted of certain crimes, regardless of extenuating circumstances. Such laws have removed discretionary sentencing power from judges, instead focusing on severe punishments in line with national drug and crime concerns. While the original goal of mandatory minimum sentences was to deter potential criminals, reduce drug use, control judicial prudence, the policy has had extreme consequences such as sentencing imbalances and
The existence of mandatory minimums are a major issue in the United States today. Since the implementation of Mandatory minimums, the prison population has increased 800%. This massive rise in prisoner population has come with devastating economic and human costs. The death of Len Bias, the moral panic that ensued, and corporate looking to make a profit off of it, have all culminated in the implementation of mandatory minimums. Len Bias was an American college basketball player who had just been recruited to play in the NBA, he died in 1986 due to a heart attack believed to have been caused by cocaine use.
How Sentencing Affects the State and Federal Prison Systems The United States
As a result of the increasing animosity of law enforcement authority and justice officials within our society, it has become apparent that the time for Congressional action is now to aid in calming the social fire storm of recent social anti-police movements, increased deadly ambushes upon unsuspecting police officers, and hateful rhetoric in the form of rebellious movements. So where should our nation’s leaders begin? Professor Paul George Cassell J.D. professor of Law at the University of Utah and former Unites States federal Judge suggests by starting with a reexamination of congressionally mandated mandatory minimum sentencing. In Cassell’s publication titled “Sense and Sensibility in Mandatory Minimum Sentencing” Cassell argues the unreasonableness of forcing mandatory minimum sentencing upon state courts when oftentimes, the punishment far exceeds the severity and/or social impact of the crime. As he explains within the text, “In practice, statutory minimums can distort the processes and outcomes of the federal system.
Suppose you are asked to a favor for someone you know, and in return you would be fairly compensated. This favor includes the delivery of a heavy luggage bag to a location where someone will take it from you. Pretty easy favor to get paid for, right? Well this favor could have you facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in the federal prison system. Contained in the bag was 10 kilos of powdered cocaine.
In Lon Fuller’s “Problem of the Grudge Informers,” the author presents the reader with the job of being the Minister of Justice and you are given the task of deciding whether or not to prosecute the “grudge informers” of the former regime. The “Purple Shirts Party” took over the state by using scare tactics and now they run the state by intimidating the citizens and they run their legislation by allowing illegal actions. While the “Purple Shirt Party” was in power, there were many “grudge informers” who were people of the state worked off many of their grudges by reporting their enemies to the government authorities. Some things that were reported were private views and critiques of the government, listening to foreign radio broadcasts, hoarding
