How the Drug War Disappeared the Jury Trial

Re:How the Drug War Disappeared the Jury Trial by tethis on Thursday January 16, 2014 @10:33PM (#7074113)

We just had a ruling a couple months ago, up here in Canada, that a 3-year mandatory minimum sentence involve possession of a loaded firearm was unconstitutional as it is considered "cruel and unusual punishment".

Is such a challenge possible in the USA?

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Re:How the Drug War Disappeared the Jury Trial by alexeisadeski3 on Thursday January 16, 2014 @10:53PM (#7074198)

Nope.

The US justice system is simply insane, and I've no idea what will bring it back.

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Re:How the Drug War Disappeared the Jury Trial by davorak on Friday January 17, 2014 @01:12AM (#7074555)

> Nope.

I am missing a legal nuance? It seems like a challenge along these lines is possible but unlikely to go very far.

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Re:How the Drug War Disappeared the Jury Trial by nknighthb on Friday January 17, 2014 @04:15AM (#7074944)

The Supreme Court has upheld three strikes laws that put people in prison for life for low-value non-violent thefts. No number of years for a crime, no matter how minor, seems to be too much. The only challenges that succeed are challenges to unusual applications of the death penalty.

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Re:How the Drug War Disappeared the Jury Trial by alexeisadeski3 on Friday January 17, 2014 @02:57AM (#7074781)

It's possible in the sense that you can submit anything you want. It's not possible in the sense that it'll be dismissed out of hand.

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Re:How the Drug War Disappeared the Jury Trial by genwin on Friday January 17, 2014 @12:52AM (#7074509)

Well 3 years of imprisonment and torture before an indictment isn't considered unconstitutional in the US, apparently (e.g. José Padilla). So we're a long way from Canada's state of enlightenment.

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