21.   But his drug laws mostly grew out of frustration with ineffective treatment programs and a belief that tough mandatory sentences could deter drug pushers.

22.   But mandatory sentences mean that more minor villains will stay in prison well past their criminal prime.

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

24.   But that number includes minor figures who insist on going to trial and are then convicted, leaving the judge with no alternative but to impose the mandatory sentence.

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

26.   But with new mandatory sentences for nonviolent drug crimes, he said, it may be time for presidents to use the authority more often.

27.   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.

28.   Critics have said that lengthy mandatory sentences and tight parole had inflated the prison population despite decreases in crime.

29.   Dealers face the longest of mandatory sentences, so their incentives for talking are the strongest.

30.   Dole gets a bit more specific with his call for mandatory sentences for gun crimes.