What are mandatory minimums?
Mandatory minimum laws require that judges impose sentences of at least a specified length if certain criteria are met. Such mandatory sentences must be imposed, regardless of a person’s role in the crime or any other factors. Typical mandatory minimum laws relate to offenses where drugs (e.g., Rockefeller drug laws), weapons (e.g., Michigan’s felony firearm statute), or both are involved. For information on states that have mandatory minimums for deadly weapon use, see Table 43 (pp. 251-255), “Sentencing Statutes: Key Definitions and Provisions for Sentence Enhancement,” in State Court Organization, 2004.
