|
Quote:
William
Rehnquist
on
Mandatory
Minimum
Sentencing
9/9/05
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.
-- END --
|
Issue #402
-- 9/9/05
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
|
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
PERMISSION to reprint or
redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby
granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and,
where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your
publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks
payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for
materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we
request notification for our records, including physical copies where
material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network,
P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202)
293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank
you.
Articles of a purely
educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet
Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
|
