Giving the Ability to Judge to the Sentencing Judge: A Call to Make Mandatory Minimum Sentences Presumptive

Abstract

This student written paper, tackles a heavily debated topic: mandatory minimum sentences. But unlike most legal commentary, this paper neither cries of their injustice nor praises their benefits. Rather, this paper weighs both the positive and negatives of mandatory minimum sentences. This paper then advocates for a legislative change to federal mandatory sentences making them essentially presumptive.