Against Mandatory Minimums

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Mandatory minimums have increased America's reliance on prison made goods. The increased prison population has created a much larger cheap labor force. The practice of forcing prisoners to work for below minimum wage has been defended by saying, “that work is central to rehabilitation, reform, and the effectiveness of prison time” (Kang, 2009 Pg: 147). However that explanation does not elucidate why labor laws do not protect prisoners. America is clearly using prisoners as a source of cheap labor and mandatory minimums have simply increased the supply. This system is not only immoral it may very well violate the prisoner's human rights. “Critiqu(ing) the country’s human rights practices… President George Bush blocked the import of Chinese products allegedly made by prison labor” (Kang, 2009 pg: 158). The government …show more content…
Mandatory minimums directly increase the number of Americans being put into a system that the government considers to be in violation of human rights.
Even putting aside the human cost of incarcerating so many Americans, the policy makes no fiscal sense. In 2010 there were 500 incarcerated for every 100,000 people in the United States, the highest per capita for any country ever recorded (Tsai, 2012). The United States’ incarceration rate is six times the global average (Liptak 2008). Assuming that Americans are criminals at the same rate as other non-Americans, this means the United States either spends vastly more on corrections than it needs to, or does not give inmates adequate access to resources. In

Arguments Against Mandatory Minimums

for possession of a firearm during his marijuana deals. He never used the firearm, but possession was enough to invoke a mandatory minimum. The judge that sentenced him didn’t believe in the sentence, a sentence longer than the length of a terrorist. Cassell imposed this sentence on a non-violent, first-time offender. Judge Cassell’s verdict was because of harsh mandatory minimums that were imposed in the 1980’s. These laws were created by Congress in the 1980’s to combat the War on Drugs. By imposing…

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Mass Incarceration Analysis

Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan took office and, in 1984, introduce mandatory minimums. Reagan implemented these minimums to counteract the growing crack epidemic of the 1980s. Although Reagan’s mandatory minimums did lower the use of crack and other illicit substances by a small margin, mandatory minimums had significantly affected communities of color. Because of the mandatory minimums, family members from urban communities were being imprisoned for long periods of time, which…

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Mandatory Minimums

(Mackenzie 2001). The leading cause of this uptick in the prisoner population has been the implementation of mandatory minimums to fight a ‘war on drugs.’ Mandatory minimums are laws that require judges to give minimum sentences for specific violations. While not all related to drug crimes, the vast majority target drug related offenses in some way. These charges can be anything from a minimum ten years of prison for possession of crack cocaine (“The New Crack Law”, 2010) to ‘Three…

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Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Research Paper

Mandatory minimum sentencing required a judge to give a minimal term for people that were convicted of a certain crime; regardless of what part the individual played in the crime. The sentencing that was given was determined on what type of drug it was, what the drug weighed, and if the person that committed the crime had any prior convictions. It was required that the offenders serve their entire sentence without parole; in some states a minimum of 85 percent was required. "Under federal law, for…

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Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Essay

society. Mandatory Minimum Sentencing in the American Justice System has long been argued by both Lawmakers and the public. We will go over some of the history of mandatory minimum sentences as well as the many pros and cons to these types of sentences. Some examples of pros and cons are the overall effect on public safety, the effect on the offenders, the cost to taxpayers, the lack of discretion for Judge’s, and whether the law should be repealed. The history of Mandatory Minimum sentencing…

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Prison OverCrowding Final Crime Society Essay example

the over population of the common sentencing – prison. Prisons today are over populated, causing great harm to the inmates and staff at each and every facility. There are many factors that contribute to the overcrowding of prisons; mandatory sentencing, mandatory minimum sentencing, concurrent sentencing, consecutive sentencing, war on drugs, getting tough on crimes, and less rehabilitation options are just a few reason that contribute to the over population. Researchers have expressed that prison…

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Deterrence Theory Of Crime

According to Deterrence Theory (2010, p. 234), punishment can be traced to the early works of classical philosophers such as Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794), Thomas Hobbes (1588–1678), and Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832). These theorists together remonstrated against legal policies…

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Arguments For Prison Reform

think that the answer lies within eliminating harsh sentencing laws. Those who are against prison reform believe that harsh sentencing laws are put into place to promote the safety of the community and to reduce many other problems. The United State’s crime rate is actually extremely low and those who…

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Mandatory Sentencing Analysis

for between two and 214 days (ten were Australian citizens, four permanent residents, four temporary visa holders and only two unlawful non citizens). 2. Mandatory Sentencing The regime of mandatory sentencing introduced in the Northern Territory in March 1997 for minor property crimes. It was establishing a broad range of offences with minimum penalties of each “strike” irrespective of…

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Essay on Racism in the Criminal Justice System

Federal parole was abolished in 1987, and federal drug convictions frequently result in lengthy, mandatory sentences. Moreover, if the prosecutor includes in the indictment charges carrying mandatory penalties and then refuses to permit a plea to other charges, the defendant has no opportunity to undergo drug treatment as an alternative to imprisonment, since federal law does not offer judges that…

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