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"Mandatory Sentencing is Bad" quotes Supreme Court Justice Breyer, ONDCP Director Barry McCaffrey and Joseph Califano on mandatory sentencing. These strong supporters of America's drug war feel that the mandatory sentencing regime should be abolished. This advertisement appeared in The New Republic
and the National Review in 1999. Available in printer-ready Portable Document Format (PDF).
| Even Drug War Advocates Agree: | |
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Mandatory Minimum Sentencing is Bad! |  |
| Stephen G. Breyer, Supreme Court Justice | |
| "Mandatory sentencing laws should be abolished." | |
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Source: United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer in a speech at the University of Nebraska College, November 20, 1998. | |
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| Barry R. McCaffrey, "Drug Czar" | |
| " - mandatory sentencing ties the hands of judges too tightly and prevents them from exercising discretion and good judgment." "By revising these sentencing rules, our intent is to broaden support for our drug policies, restore respect for the law and foster a more effective division of responsibility between federal, state and local law enforcement." | |
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Source: Prepared Remarks by Barry R. McCaffrey Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy Before the First Annual Criminal Justice and Substance Abuse Conference Albany, New York, June 29, 1999. | |
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| Joseph A. Califano, Jr., President, CASA | |
| "Laws that prescribe mandatory sentences for possession of small amounts of marijuana are overkill. In general, mandatory sentences, especially those requiring drug and alcohol abusers and addicts to serve their entire sentence, are counterproductive. We need all the carrots and sticks we can muster to help these individuals shake their habit. Mandatory sentences take away any potential that an early release might hold as an incentive for such an inmate to enter treatment. Such sentences also remove the leverage that parole offers to get recently released inmates to continue treatment and aftercare or face a return to prison." | |
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Source: Statement of Joseph A. Califano, Jr. Chairman and President, The National Center on Addiction and Substance
Abuse At Columbia University on release of Non-Medical Marijuana: Rite of Passage or Russian Roulette? July 1999. | |
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Let Judges Judge. Let's not tie their hands. | |
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Common Sense for Drug Policy Kevin B. Zeese, President 703-354-5694, 703-354-5695 (fax), info@csdp.org, www.csdp.org | |
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