Your run-ins with the law and specific infringements can result in criminal charges against yourself. Usually, you will face a judge for the sentencing that happens due to the criminal charge pressed against you. In these cases, the judge has complete freedom to handle down a sentence.

However, according to the Rochester criminal attorney at King Law, there are specific federal criminal charges for which the law entails a minimum sentence mandatorily. It is a set standard, and the judge cannot handle a sentence that is less than such set standards.

What are the minimum mandatory sentences?

There are specific mandatory minimum penalties on federal sentencing that exist in the United States. The United States Sentencing Commission says a lack of consensus regarding such compulsory minimum penalties on federal sentencing. But the Rochester criminal attorney confirms that there has been immense development regarding the commission’s work on minimum federal sentences.

There has been an exhaustive update on the data, use, and impact on the charging offenses that carry minimum federal penalties and sentences. The commission unanimously believes that Congress would more efficiently handle criminal sentencing that is regulated by guidelines. The commission also believes that mandatory minimum sentences are often implemented erroneously, and their effectiveness suffers in a lot of cases. As a result, the commission has been making sustained endeavors to bring about unanimity and standardization regarding the mandatory minimum penalties in the federal criminal justice system.

Reasons why mandatory minimum sentences are ineffective and troublesome:

The Rochester criminal attorney delineates several reasons why the commission finds the minimum mandatory penalties on federal crimes to be relatively ineffective. These can be enumerated as the following.

An increase in the prison population:

Mandatory minimum sentence imposition entails judges to put people into prison when they commit legal infractions or federal crimes. Since this step is a must, the judges cannot consider the present population of offenders in the penitentiaries and whether there is room for more.

Since minimum mandatory sentences entail yours going to prison, you become a part of the overflowing system unable to house you appropriately. Federal prisons are reported to have far too many inmates, and this problem is on the rise.

A result in long sentences:

The Rochester criminal attorney states that judges cannot customize the penalties or the sentencing on specific crimes that entail mandatory minimum sentences. As a result, they create a longer prison time. Mandatory minimum sentences are much longer than the decision that the judge hands down on his or her own.

The already overcrowded federal prison system suffers a lot because of such long sentences. Even if a judge feels that you might not deserve such long punishments, such inherent flaws in the minimum mandatory sentences might cause you to serve longer sentences.

Closing thoughts:

The Rochester criminal attorney feels that the only positives that you can take home from mandatory minimum sentences are that they apply to the most severe federal crimes. A crime boss or someone accused of committing a brutal crime usually faces a federal compulsory penalty. Therefore, such sentences often do an excellent job of keeping society clean and putting the worst criminals and offenders behind bars. Still, considerable efforts are going on to streamline the existing system and ensure these things happen more effectively without mandatory minimum sentences.