In light of the recent killings of unarmed citizens by police and the lack of convictions for officer-involved shootings in the past, we propose mandatory minimum sentencing for ALL shootings resulting in the death of an unarmed individual. Police should be held accountable for their actions and think twice about using unnecessary lethal force, even in presumed threatening encounters. If mandatory minimum sentencing was in place, George Zimmerman would have served some time for the murder of Trayvon Martin; in addition, mandatory sentencing will rebuild trust in the judicial system that no unarmed killing will go unpunished.



