“The Conservatives were wicked smart in implementing their crime agenda. There is no better example of the Conservatives’ disdain for evidence-based criminal justice policy than mandatory minimum sentences. We are living with the sad results: overcrowded jails, massive costs, reduced public safety, and law after law ruled to be unconstitutional. Minimum sentences and harsh incarceration aren’t effective at reducing crime, and they do little to assist with rehabilitation. Mandatory minimum sentences result in the insidious transfer of discretion from judges to the Crown prosecutors — who have the discretion to drop a minimum sentence in exchange for a plea to a lesser charge. Crown discretion is not reviewable and it’s not transparent.”
Source: More than sunny ways needed to address mandatory minimums