A mandatory minimum is a sentence that the court must give to someone convicted of a crime regardless of any unique circumstances of the offender, crime, or situation. There is a push to remove mandatory minimums for nonviolent drug and property crimes. Mandatory minimums increase the racial disparity and trends of mass incarceration that imprison black people in America at a disproportionately high rate. Mandatory minimums also increase the amount of guilty pleas as prosecutors are able to leverage the risk of facing the mandatory minimum sentence, encouraging innocent people to accept plea bargains.

You can read more here:

https://www.fairfightinitiative.org/mandatory-minimum-sentence-statistics/ (information/ statistics on mandatory minimums)

https://theappeal.org/it-tears-families-apart-lawmakers-nationwide-are-moving-to-end-mandatory-sentencing/ (information/ a story about how mandatory minimums have affected one family)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/02/17/i-sentenced-criminals-to-hundreds-more-years-than-i-wanted-to-i-had-no-choice/  (a judges perspective on mandatory minimums)