mandatory minimums

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US Tourists Face 12 Years in Prison for Ammo in Luggage

Ryan Watson, Bryan Hagerich say they were unaware of hunting rounds left in their bags

(Newser) - An Oklahoma man who spent a long weekend in Turks and Caicos celebrating his 40th birthday hasn't left the British Overseas Territory some three weeks later, after ammunition was found in his luggage. In 2022, Turks and Caicos amended a law, allowing a mandatory minimum 12-year prison sentence for...

Judge Sentences Meth Dealer, With an Unusual Request

Judge TS Ellis III asks prosecutors to find way to reduce mandatory 40-year term

(Newser) - A 37-year-old resident of Washington, DC, got busted last year for dealing meth in a major undercover sweep . And though it was Frederick Turner's first serious criminal offense, he received a mandatory 40-year sentence on Friday. As the Washington Post reports, the judge who imposed it isn't happy...

How 101 Feet Added 10 Years to My Husband's Sentence

Had Terrance Davis been 101 feet further from the school, he wouldn't have had that tacked on

(Newser) - Joi Davis' husband was arrested for selling cocaine from their Nashville apartment in 2003, and she sees part of his punishment as entirely unjust. That's because had he sold it 101 feet away from where he did—"in an apartment down the hall, for example"—his 22-years-without-parole...

Guy Fires Warning Shot, Gets 20 Years

Florida man says he was protecting his family

(Newser) - A man who fired a warning shot at his daughter's troubled boyfriend and told him "the next one's between your eyes" got 20 years for doing it—and by law has to serve every day of the sentence, CBS News reports. "And I was just like,...

America's Prisoners Cost You $260 a Year

Mandatory minimums, repeat-offender laws spiking prison numbers: report

(Newser) - A new report from a branch of the Brookings Institution notes that the US spent $80 billion on incarceration in 2010, an expense that translates into each American paying $260 per year to house our criminals. That's up from $77 per US resident in 1980, reports CBS News . With...

US Forces Guilty Pleas on Drug Defendants: Group

Human Rights Watch puts spotlight on mandatory minimums

(Newser) - Defendants in federal drug cases are getting unfairly sentenced, thanks to mandatory minimums and unchecked power wielded by the Justice Department, according to a Human Rights Watch report. Prosecutors basically "force" defendants into pleading guilty with threats of lengthy sentences and stacked-up charges if the case goes to trial,...

Holder to Ax 'Draconian' Drug Sentences

For low-level offenders not associated with gangs or drug rings

(Newser) - Eric Holder is set to today to reveal what the Washington Post is calling the planned "cornerstone of the rest of his tenure": a revamp of federal prison policy. And one part of the overhaul—a big change to sentencing for low-level drug offenders—is getting a great deal...

America's Stupidest Drug Laws

 America's Stupidest Drug Laws 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Aug 26, 2012 7:00 PM CDT

America's Stupidest Drug Laws

'Reason' breaks down the most ridiculous laws the drug war has produced

(Newser) - What's more ridiculous than the war on drugs itself? The plethora of strange draconian laws that have cropped up to support it. Don't believe it? Well, Mike Riggs of the libertarian Reason Magazine has come up with a list of the five most ridiculous ones. Judge for yourself:...

Holder Backs Release of 5,500 Crack Offenders

Proposal would correct vast crack/cocaine sentencing gap

(Newser) - Eric Holder today told the US Sentencing Commission that he supports a proposal to release thousands of federal prisoners convicted on crack-related offenses. Until Congress changed them last year, federal sentencing guidelines gave crack users—who are predominantly poor and black—much harsher sentences than powder cocaine users. Now, Holder...

New York to Roll Back Strict '70s Drug Laws

Gov., legislative leaders make deal to repel mandatory sentences

(Newser) - New York's governor and legislative leaders have agreed to repeal some of the nation's most draconian drug laws, the New York Times reports. The move to dismantle strict mandatory sentencing guidelines set down in 1973 means judges will have the option of sending many first-time nonviolent drug offenders to treatment...

Sentence Cuts In Store for 19,500 Crack Convicts

Federal commission mulls rule change

(Newser) - The federal panel that sets sentencing guidelines for judges may decide as soon as tomorrow to cut at least 2 years off the sentences of 19,500 inmates convicted of using crack, the LA Times reports. New rules introduced this month equalize crack and powdered cocaine sentences, and tomorrow will...

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