CASES SHOULD BE DECIDED ON THE FACTS

Sir:

In your story "Getting Tough On Crime" (Feb. 9 Chatham Daily News),
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson's announcement the Conservative
government is re-introducing C-15 (mandatory minimums for pot) is
extolled by police.

Well of course police like the idea of locking up more "criminals"
- -they have a huge financial incentive to keep the arrest and
prosecution pipeline full. Jailing people who are involved with
marijuana is job security for too many in government.

Mandatory sentencing turns judges into little more than rubber-stamps
for prosecutors. Under mandatory minimums, by fine-tuning the charges,
prosecutors are able to coerce plea bargains.

In Nuremberg, prosecutors condemned such cancellation of judges'
independence. Mandatory sentencing, at Nuremberg, was considered
evidence of "crimes against humanity".

The U.S. is backing away from mandatory minimum sentencing for drug
crimes. Unless you're in the privatized prison business, or a career
prosecutor, mandatory minimum sentencing is a bad idea.

Let's listen to Rob Nicholson's 1989 pronouncement on mandatory
minimums: "Each case should be decided on its own facts."

Doug Snead

Drug Policy Analyst

Media Awareness Project/ DrugSense

Irvine, Calif.