Mandatory Sentencing (H 5007, S 39)

A twice vetoed bill that would eliminate the draconian mandatory minimum sentences contained in some of Rhode Island’s drug laws, which are the harshest in all of New England, appears headed back to the Governor. When he first vetoed the bill in 2007 at the request of the State Police, the ACLU argued that he not only ignored the proposal’s beneficial impact on the state’s ongoing prison population crisis and deep fiscal problems, he closed his eyes to the severe and discriminatory impact of drug sentencing laws on the state’s African-American and Latino population. In his 2008 veto message, the Governor weakly argued that the bill interfered with the judiciary’s ability to impose an appropriate sentence, even though the Presiding Justice of the Superior Court had expressed support for the legislation. With this sensible legislation likely to be vetoed again, the RI ACLU will urge an override vote.