Opinion | How Mandatory Minimums Enable Police Misconduct - The New York Times
by Scott Hechinger (Brooklyn Defender Services)
Last year, Jacob, a young man I represented, made an exceedingly rare choice. He rejected a favorable plea offer because he wanted to hold the police accountable in a hearing to challenge his illegal stop, search and arrest.
To those who do not work in criminal court, Jacob’s decision may not seem particularly momentous. Yet everyday across the country, police officers willfully violate people’s rights, in large part because of their certainty of never having to take the stand to answer for their actions.
Police departments rightfully get blamed for the crisis in violent and corrupt policing. The recent firing of Daniel Pantaleo, the New York Police Department officer who strangled Eric Garner to death, lied about it, kept his job for five years and got terminated only after international pressure and the recommendation of a Police Department judge, underscores why.
But the near impossibility of getting fired is only part of the crisis of impunity. An overlooked but significant culprit is mandatory minimum sentencing.
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