Note
"January 2002."
Issued also in French under title: Les effets des peines minimales obligatoires sur la criminalite, la disparité des peines et les dépenses du système judiciaire.
Description based on print version record.
Summary
This literature review assess the utilitarian aspects of mandatory minimum sentences (MMS); that is the crime preventative, fiscal, and social consequences of MMS as well impediments to their implementation. The following sections comprise this literature review: introduction; scope of the review; some theoretical and conceptual issues; can offenders be deterred?; the impact of MMS; mandatory penalties and sentencing disparities; the economic impact of mandatory sentences; other issues; and conclusions.
Contents
1. Introduction – 2. Scope of the review – 3. Some theoretical and conceptual issues – 4. Can offenders be deterred? – 4.1. The rational choice perspective – 4.2. Offender characteristics – 4.3. Evidence on deterrence and incapacitation – 4.3.1. Deterrence – 4.3.2. Incapacitation – 5. The impact of mandatory minimum sentences – 5.1. General mandatory sentencing laws – 5.2. Mandatory sentences for firearm offences – 5.3. Mandatory sentences for impaired driving – 5.4. Mandatory sentences for drug offences – 5.5. Estimating the effects of hypothetical mandatory sentences –
6. Mandatory penalties and sentencing disparities – 6.1. General disparities and the shift from judicial to prosecutorial discretion – 6.2. Racial disparity – 6.3. Effects of mandatory sentences on other groups – 7. The economic impact of mandatory sentences – 7.1. Court costs – 7.2. Effects on prison populations – 8. Other issues – 9.Conclusions – 9.1. Deterrence and incapacitation – 9.2. General mandatory sentencing laws – 9.3. Mandatory Sentences for Firearms Offences – 9.4. Mandatory sentences for impaired driving – 9.5 Mandatory sentences for drug offences – 9.6. The impact of hypothetical mandatory sentencing policies – 9.7. Sentencing disparity – 9.8. Some Adverse Effects of Mandatory Sentences – 9.9.Concluding Remarks.