Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

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Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

2 July 2007
Mandatory Minimum Sentencing
O.K., so here's the story. You're fresh out of college where you were an excellent student. You put yourself through by working part-time; it took you five years. You have plans of attending law school and becoming a lawyer. In the meantime you're working as a juvenile counselor and in the past you've even worked for the Departments of Justice and Energy. Fast forward a few months you've been arrested and charged with powder cocaine and crack cocaine conspiracy. You have no prior criminal history and there is no hard evidence against you. No drugs or paraphernalia were found on you or in your home. You don't have lots of cash from unverifiable sources. The truth is you live at home with your mother and have student loans totaling $40,000. Knowing you're innocent and that the evidence is “circumstantial” at best, you decide to go to trial and fight the charges. But, because you don't have a lot of money you have to take a court appointed lawyer, who doesn't seem all that enthusiastic about your case. I think you see where this is headed next. You're found guilty. And now, because of the type and volume of drugs and the mandates under which the judge must operate, you're sitting in federal prison sentenced to 19 years. How did you get here when there was so little evidence against you? In fact the only evidence against you was the testimony of the person who was the original target of the investigation, a man who is believed to be a major player in the drug ring. By the way, he got a reduced sentence for implicating you, he's only doing three years. Seem impossible? Hard to believe? Well it happened and not just once but twice to two twin brothers, Lamont and Lawrence Garrison (“Faces of FAMM ”). This is the type of story you hear so often when it comes to this thing in America we like to call “Get Tough” laws. They come in several forms, 3 Strikes laws, Truth in Sentencing laws, Habitual Offender...

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  • Submitted by: spinooc
  • Date Submitted: 11/03/2009 01:03 AM
  • Category: Social Issues
  • Words: 1891
  • Pages: 8
  • Views: 27
  • Popularity Rank: 13118

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