I have a boyfriend. His name is Benjamin. I’ve known him since we were about 12. He used to ride his bike over to my house just to watch TV or hang out with me at the pool. He was one of my best guys growing up.

Benjamin went to prison when he was 19. We lost touch until about 4 years ago when his mom gave him my number, he called, and the rest is history. 

Benjamin was charged with first-degree robbery when he robbed a drug dealer for an abundant amount of marijuana. He is currently serving time at Fort Dodge Correctional Facility in Iowa, where he has already done 12.5 years. 

In Iowa, there are laws called “mandatory minimums” which are kind of a “one punishment fits all” sentencing instead of case-by-case. It leaves little to no discretion to the judges during sentencing. 

Mandatory minimums make inmates serve a certain amount of time before even seeing the parole board. So, in Benjamin’s case, the first-degree robbery sentencing is 25 years with a 70% mandatory minimum, meaning he must do 17.5 years BEFORE even having the possibility of parole. He went to prison when he was 19. He can’t see a parole board until he is about 36. 

I’m telling you this because I need your help. Each year Iowa’s mandatory minimum sentencing reform gets so close to minimizing but doesn’t. Most people facing mandatory minimums are people who made a stupid mistake when they were young, served their time, learned, and are waiting for their opportunity at redemption to society instead of wasting their lives in a 6x8 cell. With Iowa’s prisons becoming more and more overcrowded and a tight state budget that threatens adequate funding for education, now is the time to revise mandatory minimum sentencing laws. 

I want to see Iowa’s government officials take mandatory minimum sentencing reform into real consideration. The legislation will not immediately let anyone out of prison, but it will give the parole board the option to consider parole or work release for inmates who have satisfied strict requirements. It’s time to give back some power to make judgments on sentencing to our courts, our corrections officials, and the parole board who are trained to make them.