Currently, there are several criminal offenses that do not carry automatic sentence requirements under Pennsylvania law. Instead, judges have the discretion to set sentences for offenders convicted of these crimes, as long as they follow state-mandated sentencing guidelines. This leeway can be both good and bad for convicted offenders, depending on the circumstances of the offense, the offender's criminal history, and the judge.

However, several members of the Pennsylvania legislature are working to minimize judges' sentencing discretion by enacting mandatory minimum sentence laws for various criminal convictions. These efforts have been met with mixed reviews, with Pennsylvania citizens favoring mandatory minimums for violent crimes, but largely opposing them for nonviolent offenses such as drug crimes or drunk driving.

In recent weeks, the debate has come to a head in the state Senate. Last March, Senator John Rafferty Jr. introduced a bill which would establish mandatory minimum sentences for arson crimes. The proposed law seeks to create a new category of aggravated arson for offenders who set fire to structures with the intent of causing injury, or when there are people inside. The minimum sentence for such a conviction would be five to 10 years, depending on the severity of the fire.

But Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Stewart Greenleaf has loudly opposed the bill, reasoning that mandatory sentences are ineffective at deterring crime, and that they are responsible for Pennsylvania's currently overcrowded prisons. Primarily, he says, they are often simply unfair. "There's always different factors that come into play [when someone commits a crime]," he said, "and injustices invariably happen when we tell a judge that he has to impose a particular sentence."

In response, Greenleaf is planning to introduce legislation that would allow judges to depart from mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolence offenders when following the mandate would create "a substantial manifest injustice."

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, "Arson bill part of debate over mandatory sentences in Pa.," Anthony Campisi, 23 July 2011