Ever since Oregon voters passed Measure 11 to try to get sentencing for crimes right, people have been looking at the ways Measure 11 can get things wrong.

Measure 11 is Oregon’s version of mandatory minimum sentencing. It applies generally to what are considered serious crimes, such as rape, robbery and murder. It was an understandable attempt to provide sentencing guidelines so judges don’t set wildly different sentences for similar crimes.

But mandatory minimums have a way of being too rigid. One size does not fit all. Mandatory minimums also shift power to prosecutors away from judges. Prosecutors can use the minimum sentencing in bargaining with suspects, persuading them to plead guilty to lesser charges.

Oregon Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, has a bill in mind for the 2021 session to improve how Measure 11 works. We have not seen a draft. The concept as explained in Willamette Week is that the bill “would create a ‘presumptive sentencing’ structure in which the mandatory minimum would be only a suggested sentence and the judge would be given back discretion. It would only apply to crimes committed on or after the date of the bill’s passage.” It’s not clear to us if judges would be required to justify if they deviated from the presumptive sentence or if that would even be appropriate.

Would Prozanski’s idea be better than what Oregon has? It does deserve consideration and debate.