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 | | An evaluation of the Massachusetts law that imposed mandatory jail terms for possession of an unlicensed handgun concluded that the law was an effective deterrent of gun crime,[3] at least in the short term. | | | Evaluations of mandatory sentencing have focused on two types of crimes -- those committed with handguns and those related to drugs (the offenses most commonly subjected to mandatory minimum penalties in State and Federal courts). | | | In the rare instance in which a presumptive sentence is inappropriate (i.e., either too harsh or too lenient, given the facts of the case), judges can depart from the guidelines by providing in writing reasons that can be reviewed by higher courts. |
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http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/161839.txt
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| | Mandatory Sentencing Reconsidered |
| | Mandatory sentencing statutes permit legislators to at least appear to be tough on crime. | | | Mandatory sentencing attempts to fit all crimes and all offenders into the same category; it doesn’t allow the punishment to fit the crime. | | | Meanwhile, the bigger dealers are avoiding mandatory sentences and lengthy prison terms by bargaining with the prosecutors, using the forfeiture of money upon arrest or the sharing of information as chips. |
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1061801/posts?page=2
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| | Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly . COVER STORY . Mandatory Sentencing . July 2, 2004 PBS |
| | Sentences, both federal and state, are based on the weight and type of the drugs and vary from five years to life in prison. | | | Also, the court ruled that U.S. citizens whom the government has labeled "enemy combatants" cannot be denied their rights to hire a lawyer and appeal their detention in court. | | | SEVERSON: Elaine Bartlett may not find the battle against mandatory sentences as difficult as it once was. |
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http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week744/cover.html
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| | Mandatory Minimum Penalties - Federal Criminal Justice System (8/91) |
| | Despite the expectation that mandatory minimum sentences would be applied to all cases that meet the statutory criteria of eligibility, the available data suggest that this is not the case. | | | For these cases, the court was not bound to provide a mandatory sentence of imprisonment. | | | Under some statutes, a mandatory prison term is only required when the court otherwise determines to impose a sentence of imprisonment. |
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http://www.ussc.gov/manmin/manmin51.htm
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| | CNN - Study: mandatory minimum drug sentences don't work - May 12, 1997 |
| | Mandatory jail and prison sentences may cut consumption and crime in the short run, the study said. | | | But given that opposition to mandatory sentences brings charges of soft on crime, there may not be any serious effort anytime soon to undo them on Capitol Hill. | | | The Rand report released Monday said such sentences, imposed by both federal and state courts, don't do enough to cut either drug use or drug-related crime. |
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http://www.cnn.com/US/9705/12/mandatory.sentencing
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| | MANDATORY SENTENCING AND |
| | What sentence adjustments allow the court, to accomplish in more serious cases can often be achieved by bench or waiver trials when cases are, by Detroit's standards, relatively minor ("family" disputes as well as other felonies in which the equities militate against incarceration). | | | While the bench trial seemed generally to provide a satisfactory mechanism for the preservation of "no time" going rates, there was, as with sentence adjustment in the more serious cases, some "slippage" and thus some change at the margins in the sentencing patterns of the court. | | | Thus, by including the Gun Law as part of the sentence, the court can appear to be symbolically harsh, while at the same time, defendants may have little incentive to expend resources to contest the Gun Law increment to the total sentencing package. |
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http://www.saf.org/LawReviews/MandatorySentencing.htm
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| | The Truth About the Mandatory Sentencing Guidelines |
| | Mandatory minimums clog the courts and jails with non-violent offenders, forcing the early release of violent felons. | | | The Act established the general rule that all offenders may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment recognizing that the sentencing guidelines would be evolutionary and require revisions. | | | The Act was very specific in directing the Sentencing Commission to give "particular attention" to requirements of providing "certainty and fairness in sentencing and reducing unwarranted sentencing disparities"; (stating these requirements as purposes of the Sentencing Commission). |
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http://www.pixi.com/~itmc/Sentencing.html
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| | High Court voids 'mandatory' sentencing - The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - January 13, 2005 |
| | In the Fanfan case, the maximum sentence authorized by the jury verdict under the guidelines was 78 months, but at sentencing, the judge cited additional facts authorizing a sentence of between 188 and 235 months. | | | More than 64,000 people are sentenced each year under the guidelines, and defense lawyers and others predicted yesterday a deluge of appeals from those who say they were wrongly sentenced. | | | Justice Breyer, in a dissenting opinion, said he found "nothing in the Sixth Amendment that forbids a sentencing judge to determine the manner or way in which the offender carried out the crime of which he was convicted. |
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http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050113-010057-8824r.htm
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| | Call to Abandon Mandatory Sentencing |
| | WHEREAS minor drug offenders receive harsh mandatory minimum sentences, regardless of their limited role in the offense, leaving the Chief Justice of the United States, William Rehnquist (commenting on a first-time offender sentenced to life imprisonment) to call such mandatory drug sentencing good examples "of the law of unintended circumstances," | | | In their attempt to respond to the possession and sale of illegal drugs, the federal government and many state legislatures have imposed mandatory minimum prison sentences. | | | "Designed to suppress the drug trade," editorializes The New York Times (1998) "these sentences (rival) those for murder and rape...Instead of wiping out the drug markets, the laws (have) overloaded prisons and court dockets with addicts and low level couriers. |
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http://www.november.org/razorwire/rzold/09/0911.html
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| | Internet Resource Guide: Internet Resource Guide: Mandatory sentencing chronology |
| | Mandatory sentencing (Trends and issues in crime and criminal justice, no. 138). | | | This paper examines the evidence for and against mandatory sentencing and its possible impact on crime rates. | | | Critics claim that mandatory sentencing breach these guidelines. |
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http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/law/mandatorychronology.htm
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| | Families Against Mandatory Minimums Foundation (FAMM Foundation) |
| | The prosecutor has the right to appeal a case if he or she feels the sentence is unwarranted and judges are still forced to apply mandatory minimums in the most common federal cases, those involving drugs. | | | The courts must now consider, but are not bound to impose, a sentence according to the guidelines. | | | The Constitution Project's bipartisan, blue-ribbon Sentencing Initiatives committee has released a set of guiding principles for reform of criminal sentencing systems in the United States. |
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http://www.famm.org/index2.htm
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| | TalkLeft: Sentencing Guideline and Mandatory Minimum Fixes |
| | One of the things that we have done as part of the legislative work of the National Association of the Criminal Defense lawyers is to draft a proposed piece of legislation that would be an amendment to 18 USC Section 3555 3(E). | | | Under the mandatory minimum sentencing statute, the Government can file a motion with the court and ask that it not apply if someone has provided substantial assistance (i.e. | | | There are unjust cases that happen every day with the application of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and most of them are because of the charging discretion given to the prosecutors. |
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http://talkleft.com/new_archives/009661.html
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| | disinformation mandatory sentencing |
| | Mandatory sentencing undermines faith in the judicial system's abilities to resolve legal issues. | | | The cases are harrowing: Jamie Wurramara sentenced to one year in jail for stealing A$23 worth of biscuits. | | | The complete text of a September 1997 speech delivered by Astri Baker, an Advocacy and Support worker for the 'Alice Springs Youth Accommodation and Support Service', on the 'mandatory sentencing' laws. |
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http://www.disinfo.com/archive/pages/dossier/id294/pg1
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| | Massachusetts Panel Reviews Mandatory Minimum Sentencing; Issues Strong Report and Legislation |
| | After studying the issue, the commission issued a strongly-worded report on the failures of the mandatory sentencing laws and draft legislation to give more discretion to judges. | | | Alternative sentencing options, the report found, are effective in keeping drug offenders in touch with the community and in providing a way to pay for criminal justice programs. | | | "Modern misconceptions measure a state's toughness on crime by the number of prisons under construction, the hiring of additional prison personnel and the length of sentences served by inmates. |
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http://www.ndsn.org/DEC95/MASSACHU.html
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| | Mandatory sentencing: is it time to celebrate? |
| | Many proponents of the repeal of mandatory sentencing legislation have fought hard to have discretion returned to magistrates in all cases. | | | A campaign to have the NT mandatory sentencing legislation repealed was started immediately after it was introduced, led by the Darwin Community Legal Service and the Northern Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service. | | | “Labor will amend the Sentencing Act to state expressly that it is the intention of the Parliament that people who commit the crime of housebreaking, burglary, entry and damage to homes, cars or business premises will go to jail, unless extenuating circumstances exist. |
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http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2001/468/468p12.htm
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| | Should Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws Be Repealed? |
| | Legislation was submitted to Congress in 1999 that would restructure federal mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines to concentrate more on serious and violent drug-related crimes, and the House subcommittee on criminal justice, drug policy and human resources heard testimony on the issue this past May. | | | For example, anyone found with five grams of "crack" cocaine receives a minimum sentence of five years. | | | The longer prison terms make criminals think twice about breaking the law. |
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http://speakout.com/activism/issue_briefs/1127b-1.html
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| | Four Corners - 3/4/2000: Go To Jail - Updates . Australian Broadcasting Corp |
| | The Committee indicated that there were serious issues of compliance with the Convenant in relation to mandatory detention laws in Western Australia and the Northern Territory and requested the Governments to reassess the legislation. | | | The Attorney-General will introduce amendments to the Penalties and Sentences Act which will allow the groups to have a formal input into court proceedings. | | | On Thursday April 6, ABC Radio's PM program learnt that a number of prominent barristers had offered to take the matter of mandatory sentencing to the High Court arguing that the legislation is unconstitutional. |
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http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/s202064.htm
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| | Sentencing Standards No Longer Mandatory (washingtonpost.com) |
| | Another group of five justices explained why the guidelines must nevertheless continue to shape sentencing decisions even if judges are no longer legally bound to follow them. | | | The guidelines were established in the 1980s as part of a bipartisan effort to ensure that the same crime would receive about the same punishment nationwide. | | | The modified system, Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote on behalf of the five justices who supported it, will help "avoid excessive sentencing disparities while maintaining flexibility sufficient to individualize sentences where necessary." |
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3336-2005Jan12.html
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| | Four Corners - 03/04/2000: Go to Jail |
| | They either report it, in which case they're faced with a problem that there's mandatory sentencing involved in a trivial matter. | | | DENIS BURKE: I could mount an argument that some of those cases have been specifically set up to try and embarrass the mandatory sentencing laws. | | | It's a more modest version of the Bob Brown bill, which seeks to prevent the mandatory imprisonment of children in the Northern Territory alone. |
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http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/s115654.htm
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| | TalkLeft: Hearing on New Mandatory Minimums Today |
| | What we need is a fairer and more effective juvenile justice system, where there are graduated sanctions not mandatory minimums, where the least restrictive setting, not prison, is the first option. | | | A few days ago we put out this action alert on new mandatory minimum sentencing laws the House of Representatives will consider Wednesday when it holds a hearing on H.R. the "Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act of 2005," called the the anti-gang bill, for short. | | | Please, urge your legislators to abandon the counter-productive, "Washington Knows Best" approach to these complex and essentially localized problems. |
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http://talkleft.com/new_archives/010658.html
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| | Mandatory sentencing [T&I no. 138] |
| | The main claims made by advocates of mandatory sentencing are that it prevents crime, it provides consistency in sentencing, and is a democratic response to widespread public concern about crime. | | | The evidence for and against mandatory sentencing is examined. | | | Roche questions, however, whether the costs involved justify the small decrease that may be achieved. |
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http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi138.html
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| | Drug Policy Alliance: Mandatory Sentencing Laws and Drug Offenders in New York State |
| | The Second Felony Offender Law mandates a prison term for all repeat felons regardless of the nature of the offense or the background or motivation of the offender. | | | The Rockefeller Drug Laws require harsh prison terms for the possession or sale of relatively small amounts of drugs. | | | Mandatory Sentencing Laws and Drug Offenders in New York State |
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http://www.drugpolicy.org/library/factsheets/mandatory_ny.cfm
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| | Court rejects mandatory sentencing rules - Crime & Punishment - MSNBC.com |
| | Thousands of cases nationwide have been on hold pending Wednesday's ruling, in which the court was split 5-4 on two different aspects of the case. | | | Court rejects mandatory sentencing rules - Crime and Punishment - MSNBC.com | | | If the judge chooses to use the sentencing guidelines to impose a longer sentence, an appeals court could overturn the sentence if it determines the application was unreasonable. |
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6816943
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| | Mandatory Sentencing |
| | The Mandatory Sentencing Web site prepared by the Darwin Community Legal Service and North Australian Aboriginal Legal Service was launched on 5/3/00 | | | Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee, Inquiry into Human Rights (Mandatory Sentencing of Juvenile Offenders) Bill 1999 and link to Second Reading Speech | | | 14/2/00 Law Council supports Bill on Mandatory Sentencing. |
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http://www.nwjc.org.au/current/mandsetn.htm
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| | Supreme-Court Judge Calls Mandatory Sentencing Unfair JoinTogether.org |
| | Breyer said that Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, and "others on our court" share the same position on mandatory minimums. | | | Court Orders Broad Review of Mandatory Sentencing Cases | | | U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer blasted mandatory minimum sentences for federal crimes, saying they are unfair and remove flexibility in the judicial process, the Associated Press reported Sept. 22. |
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http://www.jointogether.org/sa/news/summaries/reader/0,1854,566868,00.html
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| | Drug Policy Alliance: Mandatory Minimum Sentences |
| | Women Between 1986 and 1996, the number of women in prison for drug law violations increased by 421 percent. | | | The U.S. Sentencing Commission and the Department of Justice have both concluded that mandatory sentencing fails to deter crime. | | | In 1986 Congress enacted mandatory minimum sentencing laws, which force judges to deliver fixed sentences to individuals convicted of a crime, regardless of culpability or other mitigating factors. |
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http://www.drugpolicy.org/drugwar/mandatorymin
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| | The Trentonian - News - 01/26/2005 - Democrats oppose mandatory drug sentencing laws |
| | "Such sentencing is nothing short of feel-good anti-crime policy-making," Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo, a Democrat from Newark said yesterday. | | | The Trentonian - News - 01/26/2005 - Democrats oppose mandatory drug sentencing laws | | | Caraballo got the support of the senate judiciary committee chairman yesterday, who called for a reassessment of mandatory minimum sentences. |
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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13824868&BRD=1697&PAG=461&dept_id=44551&rfi=6
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| | Oregon Mandatory Min Sentencing Law Measure 11 |
| | As high as 67% under Measure 11 ARE FIRST TIME OFFENDERS and 35% are under 21 years of age. | | | Mandatory minimum sentencing means you serve every hour of every day of your sentence no matter what. | | | We put an initiative to repeal Measure 11 (Oregon's mandatory minimum sentencing law voted for in 1994) on the November 2000 ballot and were the "YES ON 94" committee. |
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http://www.angelfire.com/ms/oregonmeasure11
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| | NPR : N.Y. Legislature Votes to Reduce Mandatory Drug Sentencing |
| | The so-called Rockefeller drug laws were first put on the books more than 30 years ago, and influenced other states to enact similar laws. | | | Morning Edition, December 9, 2004 · New York's state legislature votes to reduce some mandatory sentences for drug offenses. | | | N.Y. Legislature Votes to Reduce Mandatory Drug Sentencing |
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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4210315
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| | Internet Resource Guide: Criminal Law Resources |
| | Mandatory Sentencing Updates (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 4 Corners) | | | 1988 Sentencing (Australian Law Reform Commission report no. 44) | | | Chronology of events relating to mandatory sentencing 1901-2002 |
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http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/law/crimlaw.htm
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