Mandatory Minimums Questioned as Obama Commutes Sentences

President Barack Obama has publicly opined that mandatory minimum sentences ranging from 20 years to life in prison for drug offenses do not “fit the crime.” He has acted on that belief by commuting dozens of drug offenders’ sentences as Congress debates reform to various aspects of mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Sherman Chester is built like an NFL cornerback. His size belies a calm, respectful demeanor and a soft-spoken wit. On politics, he says he registered to vote as a Republican in 1984 because “Ronald Reagan was in office” and “America was doing it!” And when asked how he felt when he received a mandatory life sentence without parole for selling cocaine and heroin, he says he was “a little miffed.” But he isn’t flippant about crime. His family faced dire straits, a family friend ran a drug trade, and he made what he calls “a bad decision.” His sentencing judge agreed, but went on record objecting to the mandatory minimum sentence in Chester’s case, saying, “This man doesn’t deserve a life sentence, [but] there is no way that I can legally keep from giving it to him.” Read more...

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