3 Things You NEED To Know About Mandatory Prison Sentencing | Learn Liberty

► Wanna do something now? Check out FAMM:http://bit.ly/1sIGiJTOur three most recent presidents have admitted to committing drug offenses in their youth, though they didn't pay for their indiscretions with jail time. But most people caught up in our criminal justice system aren't so lucky. Perhaps the worst aspect of the flawed system is mandatory minimum sentences. Consider Weldon Angelos, one victim — a former record producer who won't get out of jail until he's eighty and has served a sentence of more than twice what the hijacker of a plane would face. His crime? Selling marijuana twice.Alex Kreit, criminal law professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, explains three reasons why mandatory minimums are really, really, really bad. For one thing, the sentences can be longer than those for more serious crimes. Second, they get the wrong people, despite the intentions of lawmakers. Third, if the goal is to reduce drug use, they fail on their own terms. Among their targets in practice are people who have been convicted of such minor offenses as possession for personal use. Drugs are as plentiful as ever.If this bums you out, we have some reasons for you to be optimistic in our next video: http://bit.ly/TmL0fY► Watch more videos in this series:You Won't Believe Why These 3 People Were Sentenced to Lifehttp://bit.ly/1sIjIRN4 Reasons to be Optimistic About Mandatory Minimumshttp://bit.ly/TmL0fY► Learn More:How Mandatory Minimums Forced Me to Send More Than 1,000 Nonviolent Drug Offenders to Federal Prison (article): Judge Mark W. Bennett says the practice is unjust.http://bit.ly/TmKSgHThe Out Of Control War On Drugs: How Sentencing Rules Force Defendants To Plead Guilty (article): Jacob Sullum describes how prosecutorial discretion aggravates the damage done by mandatory minimums.http://onforb.es/TmKMpgEncouraging Baby Steps on Mandatory Minimums (podcast): Tim Lynch tells in an interview how reform might unfold.http://bit.ly/Tn8th5Mandatory minimum sentences impede justice (article): Judge Andre Davis tells the story of Tony Gregg, occasional drug dealer.http://bit.ly/TmJdrs► http://LearnLiberty.org► http://twitter.com/LearnLiberty► http://google.com/+LearnLiberty► http://facebook.com/LearnLiberty► http://youtube.com/user/LearnLiberty