Arizona Governor Hobbs Makes the Right Call by Vetoing Fentanyl Mandatory Minimums Bill

Jeffrey A. SingerToday Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoedSB 1027, which would have placed a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison on the first offense, and 15 years on the second offense, for anyone convicted of possessing, distributing, transferring, selling, or manufacturing heroin, fentanyl, or fentanyl analogs. In 2006 Arizona voters passedProposition 301, imposing mandatory minimum prison sentences for possessing, transferring, selling, distributing, or manufacturing methamphetamine. This did nothing to decrease meth ‐​related deaths.Meth ‐​related drug deaths per 100,000 increased nationally by1,500 percent between 2006 and 2021. From 2020 to 2021, meth ‐​related deaths in Arizonaincreased by 33 percent. Why would lawmakers expect it to work differently with fentanyl?No evidence exists that mandatory minimum laws deter the illegal drug trade or affect overdose deaths. And multiplestudies show “no relationship between prison terms and drug misuse. ” In 2020 Arizonaranked seventh among all states in prison population, with 526 prisoners per 100,000 population, and spent $30,000 per prisoner that year. Adding more people to the prison population willcost taxpayers money, withnothing to show for the millions spent.Mandatory minimums will also make it easier for prosecutors to engage incoercive plea bargaining, which is responsible for more than94 percent of state ‐​level criminal convictions and disproportionately impacts people in lowe...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs