It has yet to realize that prevention is the best way to address violence. Mandatory minimums are bad policy and are misguided because they create unfairness and require judicial and correctional expenditures disproportionate to any deterrent or rehabilitative effect they may have. Judges in individual cases are in the best position to determine what sentences are appropriate for individual offenders. We need to be concerned about the high costs of the unnecessary incarcerations that result from mandatory minimums. Elimination of these types of offenders alone could dramatically reduce the prison population and reduce costs on the government.
Mandatory minimums are ineffective in imposing particular penalties for particular crimes.