U.S. Sentencing Commission Releases 645-Page Report on Mandatory Minimums
The National Law Journal summarized some of the Commission’s findings in an article today.
The last time the Commission took a hard look at mandatory minimums was in 1991. This time around the Commission reviewed over 73,000 cases from 2010 and previous years.
. . . [T]he Commission unanimously believes that certain mandatory minimum penalties apply too broadly, are excessively severe, and are applied inconsistently across the country,” said the Commission Chairwoman Judge Patti Saris in a statement.
Here are a few of the key findings:
- More than 75 percent of offenders convicted of an offense carrying a mandatory minimum penalty were convicted of a drug trafficking offense.
- Hispanic, followed by black offenders accounted for the largest groups of offenders convicted of an offense carrying a mandatory minimum penalty.
- Black convicted offenders are the racial group least likely to earn relief from mandatory minimum sentences for assisting the government.
And a few of the Commission’s recommendations:
- Congress should reassess some statutory recidivist provisions for drug offenses.
- Congress should tailor the “safety valve” relief mechanism (allows sentencing below the mandatory minimum) to include other low-level, nonviolent offenders convicted of other offenses carrying mandatory minimums.
- Re-evaluate and examine “stacking” of mandatory minimum penalties for some federal firearm offenses.
I’m sure there’s more to come from this report… Initial thoughts?