On the surface this sounds like a good idea - but have you noticed the crisis in California as a result of these mandatory minimums and 3 strikes rules?

>Unfortunately, you are correct. Even serious crime is tolerated in today's America. I did a radio spot here every week for about a year, on a local talk show. The purpose was to highlight this exact issue. I called it Thug of the Week, which was broadcast every Thursday, so we said it was Thug Thursday. Initially, I highlighted the 140 thugs who had been arrested 100 times or more, then I started highlighting (or lowlighting) those who had only been arrested 10 or more times, but had numerous burglary, robbery, etc charges. My hope was that the legislators would enact legislation that would install a sentencing matrix, which would implement a progressive discipline. My concept was that the thugs would get to see what their road map looked like, and if they got CONVICTED a tenth time, they would become property of the state and never see the light of freedom again. It was such a great idea, but I guess since so many politicians are thugs, it didn't go anywhere. Oh well. I tried.
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>>If the area where you live actually has time to prosecute you for pot (it's becoming less and less) the most a conviction will get you is community service and unsupervised probation.
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>>And a couple court fees. That's what they're really after.