Another effect of extreme mandatory sentencing laws

A reader sent me this disconcerting story from ABC News discussing a recent case in which a 16-year-old Phoenix boy was arrested for possession of computer child porn and threatened with a minimum of 90 years in prison under Arizona’s severe child porn laws.  As the story explains, according to an array of experts, the teenager was likely innocent, but he felt compelled to plead guilty to a (peculiar) lesser charge rather than face the risk of a unavoidably harsh mandatory sentence if he was wrongfully convicted at trial.

Many have long noted and justifiably lamented the extreme bargaining power that severe mandatory sentences can give to prosecutors.  This teenager’s tale — and a similar case from Arizona in which a respected teacher received a 200-year prison sentence for possessing computer child pornography (basics here, commentary here) in part because he would not cut a deal — spotlight the particular injustices that can flow from extreme mandatory sentencing terms for an array of sex-related offenses.