Sixty percent of Americans now oppose laws mandating minimum prison terms for nonviolent crimes such as drug possession, the Christian Science Monitor reported Sept. 25.

A poll commissioned by the advocacy group Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) found majority opposition to such laws regardless of political party affiliation. A stronger majority -- 80 percent -- said courts, not legislatures, should make the sentencing decisions.

Mandatory minimum sentencing laws date back to the crime reforms of the 1980s, when lawmakers began requiring courts to impose long sentences for drug possession, especially for crack cocaine. Opposition to mandatory minimums has often focused on sentencing disparities for crack cocaine versus regular cocaine or other drugs, which critics say is unwarranted by science and has disproportionately impacted racial minorities.

"The public is ahead of the politicians on this," said Julie Stewart, president and founder of FAMM. "This is a message members of Congress haven't heard ... As a country we believe in individualized justice." In a report published with the poll results, FAMM pointed to increased criminal justice costs due to longer prison terms and said there is no data showing that mandatory minimums actually reduce drug crime.

Many law-enforcement officials and organizations, including the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and the U.S. attorney general, strongly support mandatory minimums, however. Jim Pasco, executive director of the FOP, said the laws are an important crime deterrent. "Nothing focuses the mind on consequences like knowing that you're going to get, for instance, a five-year minimum sentence," he said.