New: US to cut back minimum sentences for some drug offences

[88m3]

The Obama administration is to unveil a major reform of the criminal justice system, dropping mandatory minimum sentences in certain drug cases.

Such terms will not be imposed for non-violent drug offenders with no gang or cartel ties, Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to say.

The US has one of the world's biggest prison populations, despite a 40-year-low in the country's crime rates.

Critics say that heavy drug sentences have hit minorities hardest.

"We need to ensure that incarceration is used to punish, deter and rehabilitate - not merely to convict, warehouse and forget," Mr Holder will say in Monday's speech to the American Bar Association in San Francisco, according to excerpts released to US media.

'Vicious cycle'
Under the reforms, Mr Holder is directing US prosecutors who draft indictments for certain drug offences to omit any mention of the quantity of illegal substance involved, so as to avoid triggering a mandatory minimum sentence.

Only non-violent offenders with no previous charges or ties to gangs or cartels will be affected.

Continue reading the main story
US prisons in numbers

• Black and Hispanic people are over-represented in the prison system, 37% and 34% respectively
• US prisons are operating at nearly 40% above capacity
• Some 219,000 federal inmates are behind bars
• The cost of incarceration in the US was $80bn (£50bn) in 2010

Source: Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons

He is expected to advocate sending people convicted of low-level offences to drug treatment and community service programmes instead of prison.

Such terms, created as part of the US "war on drugs" in the 1980s, prevent judges from applying discretion when sentencing certain drug offences.

According to excerpts of his prepared remarks released to media, the attorney general is expected to say: "A vicious cycle of poverty, criminality and incarceration traps too many Americans and weakens too many communities.

"However, many aspects of our criminal justice system may actually exacerbate this problem rather than alleviate it."

Mr Holder will also back efforts by lawmakers to allow judges to use more flexibility with mandatory minimum sentences.

Some states, including Texas, have already introduced programmes designed to limit incarceration of low-level offenders.

Mr Holder is also expected to announce an expanded compassionate release for inmates facing extraordinary circumstances and who pose no threat to the public.

The policy is expected to include elderly prisoners who did not commit violent crimes and who have already served a significant portion of their sentences.

Some 47% of US prison inmates have been incarcerated for drug offences, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23671354

 

[Handsback]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/12/eric-holder-drug-sentencing_n_3741524.html

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department will avoid charging certain low-level and nonviolent drug offenders with crimes that carry mandatory minimums, Attorney General Eric Holder will announce Monday. The policy shift will allow certain defendants -- those without ties to large-scale organizations, gangs or cartels -- to avoid what Holder called "draconian mandatory minimum sentences."

Holder, in a speech before the American Bar Association in San Francisco on Monday, will also announce that the Justice Department is giving U.S. attorneys throughout the country a greater amount of prosecutorial discretion.

"Some issues are best handled at the state or local level," Holder will say, according to prepared remarks provided by the Justice Department. "And that’s why I have directed the United States Attorney community to develop specific, locally-tailored guidelines -- consistent with our national priorities -- for determining when federal charges should be filed, and when they should not."

The "Smart On Crime" plan that Holder is announcing intends to lower the overall federal prison population. As part of that measure, Holder will announce, elderly prisoners who committed no violent crimes and served a significant portion of their sentences may be eligible for early release.

"Today, a vicious cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration traps too many Americans and weakens too many communities," Holder will say. "However, many aspects of our criminal justice system may actually exacerbate this problem, rather than alleviate it."

Under the drug policy, Holder will say defendants would be "charged with offenses for which the accompanying sentences are better suited to their individual conduct, rather than excessive prison terms more appropriate for violent criminals or drug kingpins."

"By reserving the most severe penalties for serious, high-level, or violent drug traffickers, we can better promote public safety, deterrence, and rehabilitation -- while making our expenditures smarter and more productive," Holder will say.



Took 'em long enough. Hope they get some change going finally.

 

[ExodusNirvana]

fukk him.

Stop letting your meathead fukkboys in the DEA and the ATF kick down the doors of medical shops in California, Washington and Colorado.

 

[88m3]

better than never

 

[AV Dicey]

Obama cant win for trying, the prevailing view was that the disproportionate incarceration rates was at worst some form of institutionalized racism, now that he tries to limit them...thread goes nowhere.

 

[Type Username Here]

Obama cant win for trying, the prevailing view was that the disproportionate incarceration rates was at worst some form of institutionalized racism, now that he tries to limit them...thread goes nowhere.

He's limiting issues regarding sentencing. While that's better than we have now, it still is incarceration and there will still be disproportionate arrests and convictions still. Nothing will stop it until this drug war ends. While Holder's actions here are a good step forward, it won't matter if the Feds keep increasing the arrest rates and number of charges.

 

[Blackking]

empty.

 

[Rekkapryde]

Turn a big plus into a negative.

And yall wonder why we always gotta work harder and do more than cacs to get ahead.

 

[Family Man]

I guess that's one bone Obama threw black folks on his way out. How will this be enforced? Will it be up to the states? Cause if it is up to the state then this shyt is meaningless. But it will be a talking point for Obama and his minions to reference in terms of the scraps blacks have received from his administration.

Forgive me if I'm a bit cynical about anything that comes from Obama and his administration.

 

[LordTaskForce]

Good.

 

[Slaimon Khan Shah]

People need to avoid doing drugs. It is sinful to do intoxicants.

 

[DEAD7]

A step in the right direction, all things considered....

 

[kermit da hustla]

fukk him.

Stop letting your meathead fukkboys in the DEA and the ATF kick down the doors of medical shops in California, Washington and Colorado.

fukk those pot smoking cacs. this is far more important.

 

[IGSaint12]

People can't appreciate steps even if incremental to correcting drug sentencing laws. SMDH

 

[jackswstd]

I bet cats will complain that he ain't pardoning thousands of prisoners. It's just a step but a step nonetheless.