Mandatory Minimum Sentences Are Not Effective Essay -- Mandatory Minim

Mandatory minimum prison sentences are punishments that are set through legislation for specific offenses. They have been used throughout history for different crimes. The four traditional goals of punishment are: deterrence, incapacitation (incarceration), retribution, and rehabilitation. With the state of our national economy, cutting prison and corrections costs would be a huge savings. On the surface, it may seem that mandatory minimum sentences would serve the traditional goals of punishment. They would discourage potential criminals, keep society safe for longer periods of time, they would punish the offender and they would rehabilitate the offender. What they did not do, however, is take into account the individual circumstances of each case and each defendant. Mandatory minimum sentences are not effective and they should be repealed. The United States enacted mandatory minimum sentences for drug convictions beginning in 1951 with the Boggs Act. The Boggs Act provided both mandatory minimum sentences for first-time drug convictions and it increased the length of sentences for subsequent convictions. In 1956, the Narcotics Control Act increased the minimum sentences spelled out in the Boggs Act. It also forbade judges from suspending sentences or imposing probation in cases where they felt a prison sentence was inappropriate. In 1970, the Nixon Administration and Congress negotiated a bill that sought to address drug addiction through rehabilitation; provide better tools for law enforcement in the fight against drug trafficking and manufacturing; and provide a more balanced scheme of penalties for drug crimes. The final product, the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, repealed man... ...tp://www.newyorkcriminalattorneyblog.com/2009/01/a_brief_history_of_federal_man.html History of Mandatory Minimums. (2005, August 31). [Brochure]. Retrieved from http://www.famm.org/Repository/Files/Updates%20short%20HISTORY.pdf Mandatory Minimum Sentences [Briefing]. (n.d.). Retrieved August 2, 2010, from Connecticut General Assembly website: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2005/pridata/Studies/Mandatory_Minimum_Sentences_Briefing.htm McVay, D., Schuraldi, V., & Ziedenberg, J. (n.d.). Treatment or Incarceration? Retrieved from Justice Policy Institute website: http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/04-01_REP_MDTreatmentorIncarceration_AC-DP.pdf Sabol, W. J., PhD., & Couture, H. (2008, June). Prison Inmates at Midyear 2007 (NCJ No. 3221994). Retrieved from US Department of Justice website: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/pim07.pdf