Quote: William Rehnquist on Mandatory Minimum Sentencing 9/9/05

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https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/402/rehnquistquote.shtml

Proof that there is no conservative consensus in favor of harsh mandatory drug sentencing are remarks delivered by the late chief justice during a widely cited speech delivered in the 1990s:

These mandatory minimum sentences are perhaps a good example of the law of unintended consequences. There is a respectable body of opinion which believes that these mandatory minimums impose unduly harsh punishment for first-time offenders -- particularly for 'mules' who played only a minor role in a drug distribution scheme. Be that as it may, the mandatory minimums have also led to an inordinate increase in the federal prison population and will require huge expenditures to build new prison space...

Mandatory minimums... are frequently the result of floor amendments to demonstrate emphatically that legislators want to 'get tough on crime.' Just as frequently they do not involve any careful consideration of the effect they might have on the sentencing guidelines as a whole. Indeed, it seems to me that one of the best arguments against any more mandatory minimums, and perhaps against some of those that we already have, is that they frustrate the careful calibration of sentences, from one end of the spectrum to the other, which the sentencing guidelines were intended to accomplish.

Passage appeared in "Prison Blues: How America's Foolish Sentencing Policies Endanger Public Safety," report for the Cato Institute by David Kopel, quoting from a US Sentencing Commission publication.

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Issue #402 -- 9/9/05

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Feature: Regional Anti-Prohibitionist Conference Gets Under Way in Buenos Aires | Weekly: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories | Europe: Contender for British Tory Leadership Says Legalize Drugs | Asia: Afghan Opium Production Essentially Stable This Year Despite Crackdown | Press Release: Lawrence, Kansas, Moving to Shift Marijuana Prosecutions to Municipal Court to Avoid HEA Drug Provision | Sentencing: New York Governor Signs Another Partial Rocky Reform Bill -- Will Free at Most 500 Prisoners | Marijuana: Surge in Arrests Has Little Effect on Use Rates, Study Finds | Canada: Vancouver Drug Users' Group Assists Users with Injecting in Order to Reduce HIV Transmission | Medical Marijuana: Virginia Nurses Association Reiterates Its Support | Crooked Snitches: Oregon Drops More than 40 Cases Tied to Bad Informant | Europe: Crackdown in Georgia | Quote: William Rehnquist on Mandatory Minimum Sentencing | Media Scan: HEA in Boston Globe, Medical Marijuana in New England Journal of Medicine, Medscape, More | Weekly: This Week in History | Job Opportunities: Marijuana Policy Project | Job Opportunity: Harm Reduction Position in New Mexico | Weekly: The Reformer's Calendar |


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