In Bassaria a group of that countrys most senior judges has criticized the uniform. mandat

ory sentences recently introduced for certain specific crimes. The judges argue that such sentences, by depriving them of all discretion in setting sentences, make it impossible for them to consider either aggravating or extenuating circumstances and so make it impossible to achieve true justice —the fitting of the severity of the punishment to the gravity of the particular crime. Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest evidence for the claim that in Bassaria the newly introduced mandatory sentences are not necessarily a change for the worse with respect to achieving true justice as defined in the argument？

A．Before mandatory sentencing, judges in eastern Bassaria imposed strikingly different sentences from those in western Bassaria for equally grave instances of the same kind of offense.

B．In Bassaria the frequency of crimes that have been made subject to mandatory sentences is lower now than it was just prior to the introduction of mandatory sentencing.

C．The law introducing mandatory sentences was passed in the legislature of Bassaria by a large majority and is unlikely to be repealed in the foreseeable future.

D．There used to be a wide difference between the minimum and the maximum sentences allowed by law in cases of crimes now subject to mandatory sentences.

E．In Bassaria judges are appointed for life and are thus not easily influenced by political pressure groups.