Mandatory minimum sentences are about politics, not justice

Mandatory minimum sentences make our justice system worse. Winning votes is no excuse for bringing in more of them.

Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer pledged on May 23 to impose new mandatory minimum sentences of five years for anyone convicted of abusing children if he becomes prime minister after the fall election. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY MICHAEL HARRIS

June 3, 2019

HALIFAX—On the face of it, it is political eye candy. Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer says that if he becomes prime minister, he will get tough on child sex crimes. In particular, he says that any government he leads will impose a mandatory-minimum sentence (MMS) of five years for the sex...

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