Federal laws passed in the 1980's provided the same prison sentence for dealing in five grams of crack cocaine as for 500 grams of powder, a ratio of 100-to-1. But it turned out that the so-called ...

A good deal of fanfare accompanied Gov. Katie Hobbs’ signing of a law on Wednesday that increases prison time for fentanyl dealers. Law enforcement officials who flanked the governor hailed the law as ...

When Judges Can’t Judge: The Human Cost of Mandatory Sentences Because prosecutors decide which charges to file, or in other words, which mandatory penalties to trigger, they control the sentencing ...

WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Federal Public & Community Defenders submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) ...

Attorney General Eric Holder, speaks about the mandatory minimum policy at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 2013 annual legislative conference in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013. (AP ...

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that mandatory life sentences for second-degree murder are unconstitutional — a significant decision that is likely to reshape a portion of state law ...

For the first time, the Minnesota Supreme Court has agreed to let a juvenile murderer fight his mandatory life sentence without parole on the grounds that it's unconstitutional. The case involves ...

Currently, felons convicted of illegally possessing firearms in Minnesota face mandatory minimum five-year prison sentences, but that could change in the near future. State lawmakers will soon debate ...

PENNSYLVANIA (WJAC) — A major shift in Pennsylvania homicide sentencing is on the way after the state Supreme Court ruled that people convicted of second-degree murder can no longer be automatically ...