[20010111]RS20307_联邦强制性最低量刑法规：第106届国会立法概况.pdf

Congressional Research Service ? The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS WebOrder Code RS20307Updated January 11, 2001Federal Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Statutes:An Overview of Legislation in the 106th Congress(name redacted)Senior SpecialistAmerican Law DivisionSummaryFederal mandatory 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. They have been criticized as unthinkinglyharsh and incompatible with a rational sentencing guideline system; yet they have alsobeen embraced as hallmarks of truth in sentence and a certain means of incapacitating thecriminally dangerous. Among the bills introduced in the 106th Congress, some wouldhave created new mandatory minimums, several would have enlarged existing mandatoryminimums, others would have eliminated existing mandatory minimums, and some wouldhave adjusted existing mandatory minimums in other ways. The only proposedmandatory minimum enacted came in the form of a piggyback statute which extended,t