Summary: Judge Carlson of Lane County talked about the mandatory minimums in place in Oregon. Mandatory minimums on drug offenses don’t fall into his jurisdiction, they are federal, but he talked about Measure 11 which is a group of terrible crimes–rape, murder, manslaughter, prostitution, arson, property crime– in which the person sentenced will serve every single day of that term. Expert Citizen, Interview.
Accessed: March 4, 2009
Support: He is a very nice person who is very knowledgeable about law. He went to law school in Colorado.
Summary: Judge Tom Hogan, federal judge of Oregon. His stance on mandatory minimums is that people are only going to change if the courts hold a long, harsh sentence over their heads; education can only go so far. Mandatory minimums help judges create equal sentences across the nation.
Accessed: March 10, 2009.
Usefulness: Judge Hogan offered a different stance on mandatory minimums and had legitimate concerns. Many drug users will do anything for the drug and the only thing standing in their way of repeating an offense or violating probation or parole is a long, harsh sentence for one mistake.
Summary: Mandatory Minimum Video by David a member of FAMM. Most drug offenders sentenced behind bars are conspiracies and not actually proved. Mandatory minimums are also based on weight and give no discretion to the judges. This is costly and a lot of Americans’ taxes are going to building more jails when those extra funds should be going to education, prevention programs, and rehab.
Publication Information: youtube.com, FAMM. March 5, 2009. Multi-Media.
Usefulness: This is showing how justice is not served because people are sentenced to jail when the time doesn’t fit the crime. Most drug offenses are based on weight and mandatory minimums were made to capture drug kingpins and they are getting reduced sentenced because they squeal.
Works Cited: youtube.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6fmgz-SBJg&NR=1.
Summary: Judge Anne Ackon of Oregon a federal judge that deals with the drug offenders and mandatory minimums. Discretion needs to go back to the judges to help the offender rather than punish her or him. Citizen Expert, Interview.
Accessed: March 5, 2009.
Usefulness: A federal judge who deals with drug offenders every day sees the uselessness in mandatory minimums.
Judge Ackon believes that education is a way to help drug offenders stop recidivism–which is a huge problem at the federal court in Eugene. The racial disparity that mandatory minimums brings to prison hugely affects society because many blacks or Hispanics feel that the laws are in place to put them behind bars even if they are not guilty of a crime. Judge Ackon also talked about substancial assistance and the problem with that. Drug kingpins, which were the focal point of mandatory minimums in the 80s, haven’t served the time that they deserved due to substancial assistance.
