Martin van der Kroon

The U.S. Transhumanist Party officially opposes mandatory minimum sentences. We reiterate our position on this matter following a series of efforts to mandate minimum mandatory sentencing by the current U.S. Federal Government.

In this area we wish to bring readers’ attention to a memo by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, directing all federal prosecutors to apply minimum sentencing regarding drug-related crimes, and the proposed Bill H.R.1761 — 115th Congress (2017-2018) known as “Protecting Against Child Exploitation Act of 2017” which would also apply to teens voluntarily and consensually sending a partner of similar age content of themselves that could be considered ‘child pornography’ and subsequently subject both to the possibility of a minimum of 15 years’ imprisonment – a law intended to protect youth but achieving the opposite effect.

Regardless of the act that is criminalized, The U.S. Transhumanist Party opposes mandatory sentencing as adopted in Article III, Section XV, of the U.S. Transhumanist Party Constitution – which reads as follows:

“Section XV [Adopted by a vote of the members during March 26 – April 1, 2017]: The United States Transhumanist Party supports efforts to significantly reduce the massive incarcerated population in America by using innovative technologies to monitor criminals outside of prison. All mandatory sentencing laws should be abolished, and each individual should be sentenced based solely on the consideration of the nature of that individual’s crime, its context, and its severity.”

A minimum prison-sentence duration can have disproportionately disruptive effects on the offender – where in the above examples there may not be a victim – and his/her future, as well as an unnecessary, long, harmful effect on the offender’s family and the community. If a crime is of such severity that a sentence similar to or beyond the proposed minimum sentencing would be warranted, the presiding judge in a court case should be able to apply such a sentence without minimum-requirement restraints. However, such a decision should be made on a case-by-case basis and not prescribed in advance of knowing and considering the individual facts of any given person’s actions. 

Martin van der Kroon is the Director of Recruitment of the U.S. Transhumanist Party.