Families Against Mandatory Minimums
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Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) is an American nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1991 to challenge mandatory sentencing laws and advocate for criminal justice reform. FAMM promotes sentencing policies that give judges the discretion to distinguish between
defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one jurisd ...
s and sentence them according to their role in the offense, the seriousness of the offense, and their potential for rehabilitation. FAMM's members include
prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...
ers and their families, attorneys,
judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
s,
criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...
experts, and concerned citizens. In 2018, ''The Washington Post'' described FAMM as "one of the leading organizations that have pushed for criminal justice changes." The organization's founder, Julie Stewart, started FAMM shortly after her brother was convicted of growing marijuana plants near his home and given a mandatory five year federal prison sentence. FAMM organized lobbying efforts in support of the First Step Act, a law which reforms the U.S. federal prison system and seeks to reduce recidivism and decrease the federal inmate population. The organizers succeeded in their efforts and the Act was passed by the 115th Congress and signed into law in December 2018. It changed U.S. federal criminal sentencing laws, among other reforms.


See also

* Incarceration in the United States *
War on drugs The war on drugs is a global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States.Cockburn and St. Clair, 1 ...


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External links

* * {{authority control Political advocacy groups in the United States Criminal justice reform in the United States 1991 establishments in Washington, D.C.