Citizens Opposed to Mandatory Minimums; Citizens for Sentencing Reform

We the people, the undersigned citizens, taxpayers and registered voters of the State of North Carolina do hereby petition the North Carolina General Assembly for Sentencing Reform, and to abolish North Carolina's current Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws, which have resulted in the imposition of unjustified mandatory minimum sentences, in many cases.

These laws deprive Judges of the discretion to sentence the individual, not just the crime, which has further resulted in many non-violent offenders receiving and having to serve a mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment greater than that of other Felons whose crimes were violent, or more severe.

We are of firm belief that sentencing Judges need discretion, because mandatory minimum sentences are not appropriate, or necessary for all criminal offenses, nor for all criminal defendants. Many of the prisoners in NC Department of Corrections are suitable for parole or post-release supervision at the present time, but cannot be released because they have not reached their mandatory minimum sentence date, even though they have been sufficiently punished.

This is an unnecessary warehousing of inmates at the taxpayers expense that has caused the current prison over crowding crisis, which has and will continue to cost taxpayers dearly. For all of the afore mentioned reasons we petition this General Assembly for Sentencing Reform, to abolish Structured Sentencing, and to reinstate Parole Retroactively for North Carolina prisoners so say we all, the undersigned.