Massachusetts Lawmakers Weigh Changes in Mandatory Drug Sentences

Hundreds of people from community, religious and labor groups gathered at the Massachusetts State House Tuesday to call for an end to mandatory minimum sentencing- a decades old practice that takes discretion away from judges when sentencing drug crimes.

In the War on Drugs, opponents say mandatory minimums have done nothing to reduce crime, costs or the effect on communities.

"The effect of increasing incarceration on the crime rate for the last 15 years, has been effectively zero. This does not reduce crime," began Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz.

"We could have saved tens of thousands of dollars per inmate per year by allowing alternatives to incarceration for drug offenses," added Sen Cynthia Creem.

Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins said, "Under mandatory minimums, in my facility, 87 percent of the individuals there, 87, are people of color. So there's another gross disparity."

A bipartisan group of advocates for criminal justice reform then moved into a public hearing where the state's District Attorneys presented a counter argument lead by Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley who said, "I am opposed and we all are opposed to the elimination of mandatory minimum drug laws, because it is not a new idea for the future, but it is a return to a failed policy of the past."

Bonnie DiToro, a former cocaine user, is well versed in mandatory minimums. She says back in 1996, she ended up being the middle of a drug deal which was an undercover sting operation. She spent almost 15 years in prison, leaving behind two young children for, she says, being in the next room while a drug deal took place that she was not involved in.

"I thought the truth would come out, I was the girlfriend, I was at the wrong place at the wrong time, I'd probably get probation, you know, slap on the wrist, but I did not know the mandatory sentencing," DiToro said.

Criminal justice reform has not been a priority on Beacon Hill, but leglislative leaders agree it's a conversation worth having.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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