1、Congressional Research Service The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS WebOrder Code RS20306August 19, 1999Federal Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Statutes: Introductory Comments to a List with Captions(name redacted)Senior SpecialistAmerican Law DivisionSummaryFederal ma
2、ndatory minimum sentencing statutes (mandatory minimums) demandthat execution or incarceration follow criminal conviction. They cover drug dealing,murdering federal officials, and using a gun to commit a federal crime. Theycircumscribe judicial sentencing discretion, although they impose no limitati
3、ons uponprosecutorial discretion or upon the Presidents power to pardon. They have beencriticized as unthinkingly harsh and incompatible with a rational sentencing guidelinesystem; yet they have also been embraced as hallmarks of truth in sentencing and acertain means of incapacitating the criminall
4、y dangerous.There are several varieties of mandatory minimums: the “not less than” statute, theflat sentence statute, the piggy-back statute, and the guideline constructed mandatoryminimum. The Eighth Amendment cruel and unusual punishment clause condemnsstatutes that impose a mandatory minimum pena
