Number: RS21347
Title: Federal Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Statutes: An Overview of Legislation in the 107th Congress
Authors: Charles Doyle, American Law Division 
Abstract: Federal mandatory minimum sentencing statutes demand that execution or incarceration follow criminal conviction. They cover drug dealing and using a gun to commit a federal crime, among other crimes. The circumscribe judicial sentencing discretion. They have been criticized as unthinkingly harsh and incompatible with a rational sentencing guideline system; yet they have also been embraced as hallmarks of truth in sentencing and a certain means of incapacitating the criminally dangerous.
Pages: 5
Date: April 17, 2003