11.   But Kerry insists that he has supported and continues to support mandatory minimum sentences for drug dealers who sell to children.

12.   But Weld has accused him of opposing them because he does not support minimum mandatory sentences for those who sell drugs to children.

13.   Congress in recent years has fixed minimum sentences for many drug offenses.

14.   Congress last year approved a measure that adds another five years to the minimum sentence if senior citizens are targets of the fraud.

15.   Consider what the bill does about mandatory minimum sentences, which prison officials and judges and other experts regard as a distorting and self-defeating trend in our law.

16.   Current law requires a three-year minimum sentence, or eight years for an automatic weapon.

17.   Does it make economic sense to mandate draconian minimum sentences?

18.   Drug-policy experts say the study will add valuable facts to the growing debate around the United States over the efficacy of tough minimum sentences for drug crimes.

19.   Federal drug laws carry savage mandatory minimum sentences.

20.   For rape, the minimum sentence is suspension or expulsion.