A Mother's Plea: Stop Extreme Sentencing from Destroying Families ACLU.org
go to original February 1, 2014

Natural Life - A mom begged the judge to let the sentence fit the crime. He ignored her and gave her son life.(acluvideos)

Over 2.3 million people are in American prisons. Over half are there for nonviolent crimes. And many, like Rufus, are there for having drugs. Not dealing. Not stealing. But for having drugs. They're there FOR LIFE for a crime that normally carries a 0-5 year sentence and treatment — because of mandatory-minimum laws.

Rufus fell victim to one of the most egregious laws on the books: the mandatory-minimum three-strikes law. The evidence against him was a dime bag with cocaine residue in the backseat of the police car that the police drove him in. It was enough for a local judge to sentence him to LIFE IN PRISON — for having a tiny, basically empty plastic bag near him. That's it.

This crime, if you can call it that, under normal circumstances would carry a 0-5 year sentence, with treatment programs to help. But because he had two previous convictions, he is locked away on the taxpayer's dime for the rest of his life without the possibility of parole.

Mandatory minimums are not only unfair to the convicted. They keep judges from doing their job. Not every crime is the same. And the idea of a tiny plastic bag putting you away for life is absurd. We can do better.

See how you can help fix these dangerous laws that destroy communities at ACLU.org

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