Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #endmandatoryminimums
Most recents (2)
ANOTHER #EndMandatoryMinimums tweet thread?! You’re DARN right it is?! We’ll stop when #VAGeneralAssembly ends them ALL—but in the meantime, nestle in (especially you @VAHouseDems) while we take you on a journey around the broad support the Repeal of Mand Mins has garnered. 1/13
Back in 2019, @GovernorVA said he was NOT going to sign anymore into law, adding, “imposing mandatory minimum sentences eliminates the discretion of judges and juries, and ties the hands of the individuals entrusted to make these important decisions.” washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/… 2/13
The notorious Virginia Crime Commission—many of you out of state advocates have asked where you can get one (lol)—officially recommended in January of 2021, that VA Repeal ALL of Virginia’s Mandatory Minimum Sentences. ALL of them. ALL. vscc.virginia.gov/2021/VSCC%20Ma… 3/13
THREAD: This is an astounding number that makes a clear case for why we need to #endmandatoryminimums. Prosecutors & police make choices about what to charge and what plea offers to make. Those choices are affected by structural and historical racism, and this is the result. 1/10
Mandatory minimums were intended to bring "uniformity" to sentencing, reducing discretion. But in practice, they create a two-tier system: one group of people gets a break, but the other group gets mandatory minimums. Empirically, Black people are less likely to get a break. 2/10
Keep in mind, decision makers don't *need* to be racist, or to mean any harm at all, for systemic racism to skew numbers like this. The criteria that prosecutors use to decide who deserves a break and who deserves a prison sentence are often biased along racial lines. 3/10
