States move toward mandatory minimums
Before the sentencing guideline concept took root, however, state lawmakers began enacting mandatory minimum penalties for drugs. New York began this trend in 1973 with the passage of the "Rockefeller drug laws" (named after then Gov. Nelson Rockefeller) requiring mandatory 15-year prison sentences for possession or sales of small amounts of narcotics. Michigan followed in 1978, with the enactment of the "650 lifer law," requiring mandatory life imprisonment for possession, sales or conspiracy to sell or possess 650 grams (about 1 1/4 pounds) of cocaine or heroin. Both Gov. Rockefeller and the original sponsors of Michigan's mandatory sentences used their support of mandatory sentences in their campaigns, profiting from the public's growing frustration with the criminal justice system by producing laws that seemed like a "quick fix" for the ailing system and growing drug problem.
One of the early victims of Michigan's "650 lifer law" was young Timothy Allen Dick, a small-time cocaine dealer from Kalamazoo, Mich. Dick, who got a second chance, would later drop his given name and become Tim Allen, comedian and megastar of television programs, movies and books.
Although the trend toward mandatory minimums in the states was gradual, by 1983, 40 states had passed such provisions.11 Most states added mandatory minimum provisions to their books piecemeal, with only a few states making comprehensive statutory changes.