HARRISBURG, PA — House Judiciary Committee majority chairman Ron Marsico applauded legislation to impose mandatory minimum sentences that passed the House this week.

“Mandatory sentences ensure that perpetrators committing dangerous crimes will be held accountable for the crimes they commit. They prevent disparity and unduly lenient sentences. And they guarantee that sentences are uniform throughout the system and ensure that individuals are punished accordingly, based on the crime committed,” said Marsico.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently struck down some of Pennsylvania’s mandatory minimum sentencing statutes because they did not require the Commonwealth to prove the elements triggering the sentence beyond a reasonable doubt.

House Bill 741 would re-enact mandatory minimum sentences for many of Pennsylvania’s most dangerous crimes, including violent offenses committed with a firearm, assaults against children or the elderly and trafficking deadly drugs. For certain drug trafficking offenses, the bill adjusts the minimum mandatory sentence downward and raises the amount of drugs necessary to trigger the mandatory for some substances in order to be certain that drug traffickers, rather than drug addicts, are subject to the sentences.