OTTAWA INTENT ON MINIMUM SENTENCES

Two Justice Reports Say Such Laws Don't Work

OTTAWA - Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson is pressing ahead with
plans to create mandatory minimum prison terms for drug crimes in
spite of two studies prepared for the former Liberal government that
say such laws don't work.

A 2005 report prepared for the Justice Department -- Mandatory
Sentences of Imprisonment in Common Law Jurisdictions -- said that
minimum sentences "constrain judicial discretion without offering any
increased crime prevention benefits."

A 2002 report -- Mandatory Minimum Penalties: Their Effects on Crime
- -- also compiled
for the department, offers a similar view: "Harsh mandatory minimum
sentences do not
appear to influence drug consumption or drug-related crime in any
measurable way."

The Conservatives unveiled legislation last week to create mandatory
minimum prison terms for drug possession, production and
trafficking.

The automatic minimum jail terms range from six months for illegally
growing and selling marijuana to three years for producing coke or
crystal meth in a home lab. A clause in the bill would allow judges to
exempt offenders from prison if they pass a court-monitored drug
treatment program.

The 2002 study said mandatory minimum sentences do not appear to deter
crime, for a variety of reasons:

. They sometimes lower conviction rates, as juries refuse to convict
accused people facing automatic but seemingly unfair prison terms.

. While they deter firearms or drunk driving crimes, particularly
among repeat offenders, they appear to have no impact on drug crime.

Nicholson, introducing the bill, said it was a response to the growth
in recent years in drug trafficking, grow-ops and other criminal
activities.