The forum will examine whether America's sentencing policies are achieving their intended goals, and if the American justice system is fair and effective. Stringfellow said that in the 1980s, Congress and many state legislatures passed laws that force judges to give lengthy, predetermined mandatory minimum prison sentences to drug offenders.
Mandatory sentences require offenders to serve their entire terms without the possibility of parole.
Such sentences, void of compassion, forgiveness, and rehabilitation are destructive, not corrective. The consequence is that our prison population has risen to record levels, and the majority of inmates are nonviolent. Families Against Mandatory Minimums is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1991 by attorneys, judges, criminal justice experts, and the families of inmates, in response to the excessive penalties triggered by mandatory minimum sentencing policies. FAMM's mission is to promote rational sentencing policies that give judges the discretion to distinguish between defendants and sentence them according to their culpability. Their goal is to end inflexible sentencing polices, to promote rehabilitation and drug treatment, and to ensure that the punishment fits the crime.