There is no shortage of lawyers who would love to be judge in his place. Making a principled stand against an unjust system is great, but making an effective stand is much better. I would rather have a judge who recognizes that mandatory minimum sentences are a bad idea and simply gives the minimum sentence--even if it's too severe--than one who doesn't see a problem with mandatory minimum sentences at all.

Basically, this is a problem which was created by Congress, so ultimately the people of the U.S. are to blame here, and the responsibility for electing the right representatives to fix it lies with them.