Mandatory Sentencing Essay examples -- Criminal Justice

Mandatory sentencing is not anything new. It began in the 1970s. The main purpose for authorisation sentencing was to try to get rid of the drug lords and to eliminate most of the nations street drug selling. It was to impose that the same crime would have the same sentence all all over the nation. Some of the negatives that rose from mandatory sentencing were nonviolent drug offenders and first time offenders who were receiving harsh sentences. Inmate populations and correction costs increased and pushed states to build more prisons. adjudicate were overloaded with these cases, and lengthy prison terms were mandated to these young offenders. Mandatory sentencing is an interesting topic in which I would like to discuss my opinions in going against mandatory sentencing. I will pose the reasons for this topic, as well as give you my personal brief on which I support. To begin, Mandatory minimum sentences result in prison overcrowding, and based on several studies, it does not alle viate crime, for example crimes such as shoplifting or solicitation. These sentencing guidelines do not allow a judge to take into consideration the first time offender, differentiate the deviance level of the offender, and it does not allow for the judge to alter a punishment or judgment to each individual case. When mandatory sentencing came into effect, the drug lords they were trying to stop ar not the ones being affected by the sentences. It is the nonviolent, low-level drug users who are overcrowding the prisons as a result of these sentences. Both the U.S. Sentencing Commission and the Department of Justice have determined that mandatory sentencing is not an effective way to deter crime. Studies show that mandatory minimums have gone downhill due to racial a... ... OUT OF GET TOUGH JUSTICE? Criminology & Public Policy, 5(1), 37-43. Retrieved December 6, 2010, from Criminal Justice Periodicals. (Document ID 1016637721). DELIBERATING law-breaking AND PUNISHMENT A WAY OUT OF GET TOUGH JUSTICE? Criminology & Public Policy, 5(1), 37-43. Retrieved November 23, 2010, from Criminal Justice Periodicals. (Document ID 1016637721).Oct 1993. Retrieved November 18, 2010. Vol. 79. 134 pages (Document ID 0747-0088) Published by American Bar associationMandatory Sentencing Laws and Drug Offenders in New York State. Retrieved November 15, 2010, from http//www.drugpolicy.org/library/factsheets/mandatory_ny.cfm. Compiled by Anonymous , The Correctional Association of New York. March 1999.Cindy Swirko. (2010). Florida drug sentences too harsh? Retrieved November 15, 2010 from http//www.gainesville.com/ bind/20100814/articles/8141011.