All sentences offenders receive are given with the consideration of the seriousness of the crime. Mandatory sentences or also referred to as mandatory minimum sentences are an example of this action. According to the Federal Justice Statistics, mandatory sentencing is defined as, “a sentence that includes a minimum term of imprisonment that the sentencing court is statutorily required to impose barring the government’s motion of substantial assistance” (p. 15). The courts are responsible for giving an offender his or her sentence for the crime committed. However, they also have to keep in mind the laws that are set for the particular crime when discretion is used. Mandatory sentencing takes the role of grouping crimes together that deserve the same or similar time of incarceration, or crimes that should have a set punishment, no matter the offender. For example, most states have a twenty-five to life mandatory minimum sentence or murder. Each state’s laws and mandatory minimum sentences vary by crime; not all crimes have a mandatory minimum sentence offered.
The earliest punishments for crimes in the United States were corporal punishments, such as death by decapitation, branding or stoning. As reforms were being created, efforts were not only made to punish or be set as an example. Instead it was pushed to have those who committed crimes be separated from the rest of society, more so have to think about what they had done and participate in hard labor; originating under the Pennsylvania System. Primarily sentencing for offenders was a set period of time and there was not a chance of early release compared to the possibilities today. New York was the first state to establish a law authorizing sentence time to be taken off as a result of good behavior in 1817 (Edwards, 1995). Years to follow, in 1916 every state had a “good-time” law (Edwards, 1995).
Supporters of mandatory sentencing laws argue that the consequence for committing a crime under the...