Friday, June 16, 2023

Chair Eldridge, Chair Day, and Members of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary:

My name is Jonathan Cohn, and I’m the policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, a statewide, member-based grassroots advocacy organization fighting for a more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic Commonwealth. 

We urge you to give a favorable report to S.1051/H.1800: An Act restoring judicial discretion in controlled substance cases, filed by Sen. Liz Miranda and Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven.

In 2018, the Legislature took bold action to turn the tide on mass incarceration and address the disparities created by our criminal legal system; however, the Legislature also misguidedly decided to create new mandatory minimums for certain drug-related offenses.

The research about the flaws of mandatory minimums is well-known by the Legislature: that is why you eliminated many of them.

Mandatory minimum sentences do not deter crime: numerous studies have shown that increasing penalties is not a serious deterrent to criminal activity.

Mandatory minimum sentences do not reduce drug use or addiction: the Legislature chose to expand mandatory sentences for opioid-related offenses, but a real response to our opioid crisis would need to address the failures of our health care system and other service gaps.

Mandatory minimum sentences exacerbate racial inequities, as studies have shown that Black defendants are much more likely to be sentenced to crimes that carry mandatory minimum sentences.

Mandatory minimum sentences helped fuel the era of mass incarceration. We know that era failed, creating broken communities and broken people. We have taken steps to move past it, but we must go all the way.  

Sincerely, 

Jonathan Cohn

Policy Director

Progressive Massachusetts