Criminal defendants have the most procedural rights at suppression hearings prior to trial.
The Constitution requires the States to provide procedures for persons convicted of a crime to appeal the conviction. After a conviction, a criminal defendant's procedural rights disappear entirely. Over history, fixed sentences have totally dominated criminal sentencing. Under a mandatory minimum sentencing scheme, judges can sentence offenders to more than the minimum sentence but not less. Research indicates that mandatory minimum sentences actually introduce disparity in sentencing.