Mandatory minimum sentences exist outside of the US as well, and they are usually not a great idea.
For example, in Germany they introduced mandatory minimum sentences for possession and distribution of child pornography. Politicians were warned that it will have unintended side-effects, but the warnings weren’t heeded.
A bit later a (female) teacher noticed that kids in her class were passing around a sex video of one of her underage students and her ex boyfriend, that the ex leaked as revenge. She had one of the students send her a copy of the video as evidence, took that to the mother of the girl, handed it to her, so that the mother of the girl could go to the police with it.
In the process of the whole investigation, it was noticed that the teacher had that copy in her possession for a short time and passed it on to the mother, thus distributing child pornography. The judge was very apologetic and said the ruling was unfair and a shame, but his hands were tied, the law demanded without any possible leeway from him that she would have to spend time in prison, without chance for early release. She was also registered in the sex offender registry and barred from working as a teacher in the future. All for trying to help that girl.
Mandatory minimum sentences exist outside of the US as well, and they are usually not a great idea.
For example, in Germany they introduced mandatory minimum sentences for possession and distribution of child pornography. Politicians were warned that it will have unintended side-effects, but the warnings weren’t heeded.
A bit later a (female) teacher noticed that kids in her class were passing around a sex video of one of her underage students and her ex boyfriend, that the ex leaked as revenge. She had one of the students send her a copy of the video as evidence, took that to the mother of the girl, handed it to her, so that the mother of the girl could go to the police with it.
In the process of the whole investigation, it was noticed that the teacher had that copy in her possession for a short time and passed it on to the mother, thus distributing child pornography. The judge was very apologetic and said the ruling was unfair and a shame, but his hands were tied, the law demanded without any possible leeway from him that she would have to spend time in prison, without chance for early release. She was also registered in the sex offender registry and barred from working as a teacher in the future. All for trying to help that girl.
Do you have link to an article about that, sounds crazy.