JHA Testimony at Sentencing Reform Subject Matter Hearing

Testimony of the John Howard Association to the Senate Criminal Law Committee of the 101st Illinois General Assembly, Sentencing Reform Subject Matter Hearing, September 15, 2020

JHA recommendation: Illinois should repeal mandatory minimums, thereby untying the hands of criminal justice practitioners so that they can impose individualized sentences within the scope of the law that are tailored to fit individual offenses. The facts surrounding criminal offenses vary. Mandatory minimums are a one-size-fits-all approach that does not allow practitioners to adjust prison sentences in a way that accounts for this variance, sometimes leading to counterproductive, expensive, and unjust results.