America locks up more of its people than any other country on the planet. Why? Because of mandatory-minimum sentences.

Investigative reporter John Stossel says mandatory minimums encourage crooks to implicate others, thus lowering their own sentences. Do they actually work? Stossel says it’s likely that they do. Prosecutors love them because they’re afforded more power to plea bargain with suspects, but it ties the judges’ hands and results in needlessly harsh sentences. Stossel explains further.