BOSTON, Mass. — In a letter to the editor of the Lawyers Weekly, John Larivee and other members of the Special Commission to Study Criminal Justice System, outline reasons why mandatory minimum sentencing is a failed policy.
Larivee writes:
“Mandatory minimums undermine public safety by putting too many people in prison who have problems that are exacerbated by incarceration.
“For drug users and abusers, evidence-based probation and substance abuse programming have been proven to be much more effective than incarceration for improving public safety at a fraction of the cost.”
Click here to read the full version of the letter.