A front page article on “Mandatory minimum sentences are ‘unconstitutional,’ Pa. court says” was the best news we have encountered in a long time, although there has been a lot of good news as the public at long last has come to understand the follies of the War on Drugs and the myths, lies, prejudices and ignorance from which it was launched.
As reported by the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal New Era:
“A Pennsylvania Superior Court opinion has deemed mandatory minimum sentences ‘unconstitutional,’ a ruling which could have major impact on countless cases here and across the state.
“The high court made the statement Wednesday in its ruling of a Montgomery County case involving a man, James Newman, who received a mandatory 5-year sentence for possession of drugs and a gun.
“ ‘This removes a huge amount of power from the district attorney,’ Lancaster defense lawyer Chris Patterson said, ‘and restores it to the (judges).’ ”
The problem with mandatory minimums is that it transfers the power of sentencing from the judge to the district attorney, who can plea bargain what the charges will be. When faced with the choice of five years or twenty, even the innocent have a hard time standing their ground.
Going back a quarter of a century, we had the honor of serving on the board of the Drug Policy Foundation, a pioneer in drug policy reform, with Federal Judge Robert W. Sweet. He was among the first federal judges brave enough to speak out against mandatory minimums and sentencing guidelines, ultimately refusing to take drug related cases.
For almost two decades, the federal judge organization has quietly beseeched the U. S. Attorney General to do away with mandatory minimiums.
According to Wikipedia:
“Sweet has expressed strong opposition to the United States War on Drugs, saying the drug war is “expensive, ineffective and harmful” and that only “gangs and cartels benefit from current drug laws”.[7] In an interview with PBS, he said that the mandatory minimum sentence for drug offenses violates due process and separation of powers.[8] With co-author Edward A. Harris he contributed a chapter[9] to Jefferson Fish’s book How to Legalize Drugs.”
Sweet is now in his early 90s. Let’s hope he also is enjoying this news from Pennsylvania.
