What do the TSA and Mandatory Sentences Have in Common?

They both treat everyone the same -- for better or worse.  

Ronald Thompson is an example of the "for worse," and FAMM President Julie Stewart discusses his case in this new post at The Huffington Post:

TSA's passenger screening policy is not the only example of the government's moronic and evidence-free allegiance to uniformity. Reflect on mandatory minimum sentencing laws, for a moment. If you do not think they produce the same absurdities as TSA's busy hands, then you need to know the story of Ronald Thompson.

Ronald Thompson is a disabled veteran who spent 14 years in the Army. After his service, Thompson remained active in veterans' affairs. In addition to acting as a Deputy Representative for AMVETS, Thompson accumulated more than 5,000 hours volunteering at the VA hospital in Lake City, Florida helping other retired vets with their rehabilitation.

Thompson was 62 years old in September 2009 when he visited a friend of his, an elderly woman in Keystone Heights, Florida, at the woman's daughter's home. During his visit, his friend's 17-year-old grandson, who had been violent toward her in the past, came by with three friends and wanted to go into his mother's home. Having been instructed by her daughter not to let him into the house, Thompson's friend refused them entry. Her grandson began yelling and cursing at his grandmother. Events escalated to the point where Mr. Thompson felt his friend was in danger. He grabbed his pistol (for which he had a conceal-carry license) and fired two warning shots into the ground to scare off the 17-year-old.

Enter the TSA... I mean, the State of Florida. Florida has a strict mandatory minimum sentencing law for crimes committed with a gun. Called the 10-20-Life law, felons who commit crimes while carrying a gun get an automatic 10 years in prison. If they discharge the gun, they get 20. And if their shot hits and harms a victim, they get a sentence of 25 years to life.

The law obviously wasn't directed at people like Thompson, just as TSA pat-downs weren't aimed at grandmas in wheelchairs.  But that's the problem with inflexible mandatory minimum sentencing laws:  they just can't make the distinctions that really matter.

Judges can, though, and they should be allowed to.