They impose mandatory prison sentences, taking discretion away from judges.
At Le Montrose Suite Hotel in West Hollywood, the general manager, John Douponce, takes discretion seriously.
"This is taking discretion away from the U.S. attorneys' offices," he said.
It might seem that taking discretion away from judges is successful as far as the public is concerned.
Mandatory sentencing laws were enacted taking discretion away from judges, and longer sentences were imposed by the legislature.
Julie Stewart, president of Washington-based Families Against Mandatory Minimums, said the Grassley approach was shortsighted and would continue to take discretion out of the hands of judges.
has also introduced bipartisan legislation that would go even further, taking discretion over sexual assault cases entirely out of the military chain of command.
"The bottom line is that the law that was enacted in 1996 is extremely harsh, and it takes discretion away from immigration judges in most instances," Kolken told HuffPost.
The war on drugs, mandatory sentencing laws that take discretion away from judges, "three-strikes" laws that lock up people for decades for minor crimes, and life without parole laws that condemn teenagers to living their entire adult lives behind bars have created a permanent underclass of poor, formerly incarcerated people, most of whom are black and Latino.
Dennis Henigan, the acting president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the measure took away discretion from police at the state and local level who are better able to identify individuals who might pose a threat, like alcoholics, drug abusers, people with undiagnosed mental issues and individuals who have committed violent misdemeanors.
