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A mandatory sentence is a court decision setting where judicial discretion is limited by law. Typically, people convicted of certain crimes must be punished with at least a minimum number of years in prison. Mandatory sentencing laws vary from country to country; it is mainly an area of interest only in Common Law jurisdictions, since Civil Law jurisdictions usually prescribe minimum and maximum sentences for every type of crime in explicit laws. A mandatory sentencing law, which often targets "moral vices" (e.g., alcohol, sex, drugs, and to friendships and family via prohibition) and life and death decisions, is viewed as part of the mass incarceration by criminal justice advocates of the "bottom income half to quartile" of the American population. As part of police targeting and surveillaince, and often harsh sentencing, mandatory sentencing often is proposed as "fairness" by those unfamiliar with the penal systems in the US. Mandatory sentencing still has not been linked to other areas such as racial profiling, 700% increase in US prison incarceration rates, zero tolerance and prison growth at the expense of employment, housing, education, family support and quality of life. United States federal juries are generally not allowed to be informed of the mandatory minimum penalties that may apply if the accused is convicted, because the jury's role is limited to a determination of guilt or innocence. However, sometimes defense attorneys have found ways to impart this information to juries; for instance, it is sometimes possible, on cross-examination of an informant who faced similar charges, to ask how much time he was facing. This is sometimes deemed permissible because it is a means of impeaching the witness. However, in at least one state court case in Idaho, it was deemed impermissible.〔 〕 In 2013, United States Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. announced that the Justice Department will follow a new policy restricting mandatory minimum sentences in certain drug cases.〔Memorandum from Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General of the United States, to U.S. Attorneys and Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the Criminal Division regarding Department Policy on Charging Mandatory Minimum Sentences and Recidivist Enhancements in Certain Drug Cases (Aug. 12, 2013) available at: http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/HolderMandatoryMinimumsMemo.pdf (access date: 28 October 2013)〕 Notably, capital punishment has been mandatory for murder in a certain number of jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom until 1957 and Canada until 1961. ==History== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mandatory sentencing」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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