Mandatory sentencing

Mandatory sentencing is when a judge is required to give a certain punishment for a specific crime, no matter what the circumstances are or how bad/good the criminal has been in the past. It’s like having to eat all your vegetables even if you don’t like them, just because your parents made a rule that you have to eat them every day.

For example, if someone is caught with illegal drugs, the law may say that the punishment is a minimum of 5 years in prison. Even if this person only had a small amount of drugs and wasn’t selling them or hurting anyone, the judge has to send them to prison for at least 5 years. The judge doesn’t have a choice, it’s the law.

Some people think that mandatory sentencing is fair and keeps everyone safe because it shows that if you break the law, you will be punished. Others think that it’s not fair because it doesn’t give the judge a chance to take into account what really happened in the situation and make a decision that is more fair for everyone involved.