annually. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 were increased sentences for a broad range of offenses, as well as establishing federal penalties for most murders and a large number of other crimes already subject to state law (Batey,2002). In addition to reducing the discretion of state judicial systems; as well as 85 percent of sentence satisfaction and establishing a mandatory life sentence for those convicted of three serious violent crimes or drug offenses (NeSmith,2015).
The war on drugs has maintained an accumulation of prohibitions on illegal drugs and mandatory minimum sentencing strategies for drug offenders. Incarceration rates have also increased due to the increase of laws against illegal drugs. In Eugene Jarecki’s film, The House I Live In, Jarecki states that the penalties for crack users were harsher than penalties for regular cocaine users. This suggests that penalties are more of a double standard theory. The “War on Drugs” is more of a failure that places
The American “War on Drugs” war created to keep an exorbitant amount of people behind bars, and in a subservient status. First, America has a storied history when it comes to marijuana use. However, within the last 50 years legislation pertaining to drug use and punishment has increased significantly. In the modern era, especially hard times have hit minority communities thanks to these drug laws. While being unfairly targeted by drug laws and law enforcement, minorities in America are having
Mandatory Minimums: A National Injustice Mandatory minimum drug sentencing is legislation passed by Congress in 1986 to create harsher punishments for drug offenders. These laws were created at a time when drug use was beginning to rise dramatically. This type of sentencing was meant to impose harsh, excessive sentences on any type of drug offense, despite other circumstances. While these laws seem good in theory, they were not well thought out. The creators and supporters
horror stories about drugs like crack-cocaine. From them, and probably from no other source, we learn that crack is immediately addictive in every case, we learn that it causes corruption, crazed violence, and almost always leads to death. The government tells us that we are busy fighting a war on drugs and so it gives us various iconic models to despise and detest : we learn to stereotype inner-city minorities as being of drug-infested wastelands and we learn to "witchhunt" drug users within our own
supported by attorneys, judges, criminal justice experts and concerned citizens. Their objectives include: uncrowding jails, which use citizens tax money, shift resources from uncrowded jails due to excessive incarceration to other departments such as law enforcement and additional programs whose aims include reducing crime and recidivism, and lastly, encourage individuals who have suffered from mandatory minimum sentencing and whose lives have been harmed by these practices to be constructive. To achieve
recreational drugs has shown a positive impact on the community through decrease of incarcerations and medical advancements. This essay argues that although state and local policy changes have shown to be more effective than it’s predecessor set by the Nixon administration, federal oversight and involvement is still crucial to the success of applying a drug policy onto any type of population. Recreational drugs, or otherwise known as club drugs are often described in American media as: Drugs that are
Drugs are a serious problem in today’s world; they are becoming more accessible and increasingly affordable to everyone, including teenagers, who seem to be especially vulnerable to falling into this endless pit of doom. In order to reduce drug offense rates, there need to be firm laws that dictate the consequences for major offenses. Mandatory minimum sentences effectively fulfill this, by instilling fear into those who contemplate abusing or selling drugs, and they make sure drug offenders are
time, drugs were a serious problem. The government decided it was at this time to take a harsh stance on drugs. From the kingpin to the everyday user people were incarcerated for non-violent charges. "President Richard M. Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) into law in 1970. This statute calls for the regulation of certain drugs and substances. The CSA outlines five "schedules" used to classify drugs based on their medical application and potential for abuse. Schedule 1 drugs are considered
mandatory minimum sentencing. The Committee decided the guidelines would be set the levels in the Drug Quantity Table (Hinojosa 1998). This would be done to create a set standard for levels 26 and 32. see table 1 {Table 1 About Here} These levels would work along with a standard set of program ranges that are above the statutory mandatory minimum sentencing laws (Weld 1986). Congress was not in favor of the sentencing table and told the USSC to prepare to research and present their findings