AJR 47, as amended, Donnelly. Mandatory minimum sentencing.
The measure would urge the Congress and the President of the United States to end mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses.
Fiscal committee: no.
P1 1WHEREAS, For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, federal
2trial judges had broad, virtually unlimited sentencing discretion;
3and
4WHEREAS, The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 established
5the United States Sentencing Commission and directed it to
6promulgate sentencing guidelines that would regulate and govern
7a sentencing court’s discretion. In some cases, the act eliminated
8the court’s discretion entirely by requiring a mandatory minimum
9sentence for certain types of crimes; and
10WHEREAS, These mandatory sentences have led to some harsh
11results because they do not take into account the facts of the
12individual case; and
P2 1WHEREAS, There is currently bipartisan support for the
2removal of mandatory minimumbegin delete sentences, at leastend deletebegin insert sentencesend insert in
3nonviolent drug crime cases; and
4WHEREAS, United States Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky
5stated, “Our county’s mandatory minimum laws reflect a
6Washington-knows-best, one-size-fits-all approach, which
7undermines the Constitutional separation of powers, violates our
8bedrock principle that people should be treated as individuals, and
9costs the taxpayers money without making them any safer”; and
10WHEREAS, Attorney General Eric Holder stated, “Too many
11Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly
12good law enforcement reason”; and
13WHEREAS, Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform
14stated, “the benefits, if any, of mandatory minimum sentences do
15not justify this burden to taxpayers. Illegal drug use rates are
16relatively stable, not shrinking. It appears that mandatory
17minimums have become a sort of poor man’s Prohibition; a grossly
18simplistic and ineffectual government response to a problem that
19has been around longer than our government itself. Viewed through
20the skeptical eye I train on all other government programs, I have
21concluded that mandatory minimum sentencing policies are not
22worth the high cost to America’s taxpayers”; and
23WHEREAS, Former federal prosecutors have testified that
24mandatory minimum sentences do not accomplish the purpose of
25identification of high-level drug organization leaders by low-level
26offenders; and
27WHEREAS, In addition, the longer term incarceration of federal
28criminals has led to one-third of the budget of the United States
29Department of Justice being spent operating prisons; now,
30therefore, be it
31Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
32California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the President and
33the Congress of the United States to end mandatory minimum
34sentences for nonviolent drug offenses; and be it further
35Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
36of this resolution to the President and the Vice President of the
37United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to
38the Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and
39Representative from California in the Congress of the United
P3 1States, to the Governor of California, and to the author of this
2resolution.
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