Mandatory Minimum Sentencing and Their Effects on Racial Disparities, Essay Example

Mandatory minimums referrers to law, which requires automatic prison terms for particular crimes. The main objective of such law is to ensure that certain criminals serve long prison sentence. Federal –used mandatory minimum penalties has existed since the day when the first federal panel law was enacted in the 18^th century. The constitution gives the congress authority to establish to establish criminal offences and set punishment for those offences. The congress created the first series of federal offences by passing the 1790 crime act. The act specified 23 crimes and 7 of them had carried mandatory death penalty, 13 were punishable by a term of imprisonment, and three were punishable by fine and corporal punishment (William, 2010).

The federal created its first mandatory minimum term of imprisonment towards the end of 18^th century as part of response to the strained relationship between the US and France. Other instances where federal used minimum penalties include lagoon act, seduction act, and the 1807 act that restricted citizens from bringing slaves. Since the 1790 act, the federal has created many other crimes and a number of criminal activities the carry the minimum sentence through the 19^th and 20^th century.

The Mandatory minimum sentencing

In most part of 19^th and 20^th century, judges had unlimited sentencing discretion. However, in the 60s and 70s, the congress criticized the practice arguing that it gave rise to disparities. This gave way for congress to modify the federal sentencing process through the sentencing reform acts of 1984.

This law established a US sentencing commission whose objective was to promulgate sentencing guideline. At the same time, the congress eliminated the court discretion to exercise leniency in some case by requiring them to impose mandatory minimum sentences to some crimes. The court may only depart from those minimum sentences only on limited circumstances. Since the enactment of the law, the numbers of mandatory minimum crimes have doubled. It is imperative that new types of offences such as child trafficking, drug abuse, and child pornography have minimum sentencing.

Does the Mandatory minimum sentencing increase racial disparity?

As mentioned earlier, in 1984, the congress approved state sentencing guidelines hence imposing a highly structured sentencing regime on federal district courts and sentencing decisions. This law established a US sentencing commission whose objective was to promulgate sentencing guideline. One of the key objectives of those guidelines was to address the widespread disparities that existed. The question whether mandatory minimum sentencing leads to racial disparities has always existed. The policy makers are always debating on whether or not the binding guidelines should be re-enacted in a modified  form (such as returning discretion to the judges) to reduce racial disparity (Justin, 2011). Such debates are influenced by the concern that racial disparities would increase under such advisory.

In order to understand the impacts of minimum sentencing on racial disparities, two journals are reviewed. One journal is “racial disparity under the federal sentencing guidelines”. The article reviews the impact of various acts that changed the judge’s discretion and the impacts they have had on racial disparity.

The author of the article reports that theory alone cannot determine how expanding judicial discretion affects racial disparities. Judges decisions may be influenced by subconscious bias or stereotypes in which case; expanding judicial discretion would increase racial disparity by mitigating bias from other actors such as prosecutor’s actions, or sentencing policies that have terse impacts against minority.  The article found out that racial disparity could be reduced by judicial discretion in the context of guidelines sentencing. The researchers also report that on average, the racial disparities were smaller during the periods of deferential review under the booker and Koon periods (Lucy, 2013).

The other article reviewed is “the effects of mandatory minimum sentencing on the black male and black communities”. This article reports that the minimum sentencing law has disproportionally affected African American males. The researcher found that in the past decade, although the crime rates have declined for all communities, two criminal offences, which are notably drug possession and theft, have increased. According to the article, African- American men are five times more likely to be convicted of drug possessions even though the Whites use drugs more often. The article also found that the sentences of African Americans are 10 % likely to be longer than the sentences of the Whites. The researcher explains this by suggesting that due to the declared “war on drugs”, the judges have been tough on drug- related offences. In agreement with other researches, the study concluded that expanding judge discretion reduces some racial disparities. Moreover, the researcher agrees that most racial discretion originate from prosecutors changing choices.

Conclusion

It is evident that the mandatory minimum sentencing reduced the judge’s discretion and is likely to increase racial disparity. The minimum sentencing denied judges the ability to evaluate carefully the defendant based on a variety of prevailing factors, which is accounted for by the sentencing guidelines. For instance, the minimum sentencing on substance abuse offences, coupled with the “war on drug” made judge to be tougher; this has resulted to higher rate of African American being jailed. Therefore, it is important to allow a safety valve that will allow judges to administer a sentence below the statutory minimum. Ultimately, giving the judge’s discretion will combat the racial disparities especially between African American and other groups. This move will ensure that defendant is sentenced on a case-by-case basis.

References

Justin J. W. (2011).  America: The Politics of Individual Rights. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.

Lucy, S. (2013). The effects of mandatory minimum sentencing on the black male and black communities. The Journal of American History. Vol. 76 (1), pp.91-117.

William, M. W. (2010). Racial disparity under the federal sentencing guidelines.The Journal of Southern History. Vol. 36 (4), pp. 530-548.