Arizona’s Revised Statutes are filled with mandatory sentencing provisions. For instance, A.R.S. 13-703 says that a repetitive offender in “category three,” someone who has been convicted of a felony and has two or more historical prior felony convictions, “shall be sentenced” within certain sentencing ranges. The range for a category three offender convicted of a class 2 felony is 10.5 years to 35 years. A.R.S. 13-704 contains another mandatory sentencing scheme. A “dangerous offense” is one “involving the discharge, use or threatening exhibition of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument or the intentional or knowing infliction of serious physical injury on another person.” If someone is convicted of a “dangerous” class 2 felony, the statute says that he or she “shall be sentenced” to a term of … Read entire article »