Mandatory sentencing has gotten some bad press in Colorado lately. The high profile case of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, the truck driver who was sentenced to 100 years in prison after a deadly accident has called the Colorado sentencing laws into question. (check out our podcast on the case here) The truck driver, who was sober at the time, lost his brakes on Colorado’s I-70 and crashed into multiple cars, killing four people. After Aguilera-Mederos was given a sentence that is more than twice as long as some murderers, even the judge had regrets about having to hand out such a harsh sentence. But Colorado law forced him to do so. You might be asking: How could such a disproportionate sentence be handed out in America? We will look into the history, the details, and problems with mandatory sentencing in this article in order to answer this question. What should be done about it? We explore that, too.
