Mandatory Minimalism

Luna, Erik; Cassell, Paul G.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2181092

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…490 Mandatory minimums are partially responsible for the average length of federal sentences doubling and the federal prison population increasing tenfold. 491 In addition, mandatory minimums have helped entrench racial disparities in the criminal code 492 and have been remarkably resilient. In 2010, then-President Barack Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act, which "eliminated the mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack cocaine."…”

Section: The Military Has Virtually No Mandatory Minimumsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2010, then-President Barack Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act, which "eliminated the mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack cocaine." 493 In so doing, it was the first time since the Nixon Administration that a federal mandatory minimum was repealed. 494 Federal mandatory minimums may draw the most attention, but they do not stand alone.…”

Section: The Military Has Virtually No Mandatory Minimumsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What’s the Most Defense Friendly Jurisdiction in America? The Military.

Monea

2023

Preprint

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The military treats criminal defendants better than any other jurisdiction in the country. Some of these protections are straightforward improvements over civilian systems, some are inadvertent benefits for the defense. This article catalogs the benefits. They come in three main classes spread throughout the process. First, there are more substantive and logistical roadblocks for the prosecution to surmount to achieve and sustain a conviction, whether misdemeanor or felony, trial or appeal. Second, defendants are treated better on a personal level, which means more dignity in the courtroom and having their worldly needs taken care of during the entire process. And third, defense attorneys are treated better. Military defenders are paid more, have fewer cases, and have fewer obligations than their typical civilian counterparts. This article concludes by arguing the military system should incorporate aspects of the civilian justice system, but also celebrate its superior elements.

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Section: The Military Has Virtually No Mandatory Minimumsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Military Has Virtually No Mandatory Minimumsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What’s the Most Defense Friendly Jurisdiction in America? The Military.

Monea

2023

Preprint

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“…First, the determination of sentencing is "a quintessential, historically recognized judicial function"; the "effective transfer of that power to the executive branch" via mandatory minimums undermines the separation of powers. 36 And second, prosecutors are less accountable than judges. The exercise of judicial discretion in sentencing is supported by judges' written decisions, which are both reported and reviewable by superior courts.…”

Section: Consistencymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mandatory Minimums and the War on Drugs

Wodak

2018

The Palgrave Handbook of Philosophy and Public Policy

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Mandatory minimum sentencing provisions have long been a feature of the US justice system. In the Crimes Act of 1790, seven offenses, such as treason, carried a mandatory death penalty: 1 that is, upon convicting a defendant for treason, the minimum sentence a judge could impose was death. From 1790 to 1950, federal mandatory minimums grew slowly and "generally targeted crimes that were infrequent" and "decisively federal in nature", like piracy. 2 With the onset of the war on drugs, mandatory minimums became a more signi cant feature of the justice system: "Congress passed harsh drug-related mandatory minimums in 1951 and 1956, repealed them in 1970 […], then passed them again in a biennial fashion, beginning in 1984". 3 Federal mandatory minimums have grown explosively under the war on drugs, 4 become more severe, and targeted crimes that were frequent and also punishable under state laws. The effects of this trend are myriad. Most obviously, many prisoners are subject to drug-related mandatory minimums. In 2016, 22% of offenders in the federal system were convicted of an offense carrying a mandatory minimum and 67% of those offenders were convicted of drug traf cking; 5 of the remainder, many were also subject to mandatory minimums due to the war on drugs under rearms and "career offender" provisions. 6 It would be misleading to focus only on the federal system since "half of all federal prisoners are serving time for drug crimes". 7 State legislatures also passed and expanded mandatory minimums signi cantly during the war on drugs and in some cases due to the in uence of federal crime policy. 8 Drug offenders were 6.5% of the state prison population in 1980; this rose to 22% in 1990 before dropping to 16% today.

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“…Of course, federal mandatory penalties produce egregious sentencing disparities (Gill 2008;Goodwin 1992;Luna and Cassell 2010; U.S. Sentencing Commission 2011) and have produced a number of high-profile miscarriages of justice (Cassell 2007;Oleson 2007).…”

Section: The Politicization Of Federal Criminal Justicementioning

confidence: 99%

A Decoupled System: Federal Criminal Justice and the Structural Limits of Transformation

Oleson

2014

Justice System Journal

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Mandatory Minimalism

Cited by 7 publications

References 36 publications

What’s the Most Defense Friendly Jurisdiction in America? The Military.

What’s the Most Defense Friendly Jurisdiction in America? The Military.

Mandatory Minimums and the War on Drugs

A Decoupled System: Federal Criminal Justice and the Structural Limits of Transformation

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