AG backs reduced sentence for some drug offenders
By Scott Neuman, NPR
Attorney General Eric Holder is backing a proposal to shorten sentences for nonviolent drug dealers in an effort reduce federal spending on prisons.
Holder appeared before the United States Sentencing Commission on Thursday to announce his support of the panel’s recommendations to trim federal guidelines for sentencing of drug traffickers to 51 months from 62 months.
“This overreliance on incarceration is not just financially unsustainable, it comes with human and moral costs that are impossible to calculate,” Holder said, adding that the harshest penalties should be reserved for “dangerous and violent drug traffickers.”
It is about time the drug war comes to an end, this is a start. Bummer for the “prisons for profit” .
Having drug offenders sent to prison to be beaten, raped and infected with aids isn’t working?
I sure hope the prison guard and law enforcement unions get a chance to donate to the law makers before this reckless concept is allowed to spread.
Until the corrupt and incompetent prison system is able to keep drugs out of the prisons, drug laws should be suspended. I mean for @#&&%%$ sake they can’t even keep drugs out of prisons. How could they have ever thought they could put a dent in the drug use outside of secure prison walls??
As one with some familiarity with the workings of law enforcement, and very active in Democratic and “progressive” politics, I’ve long felt that Holder, who might have been an acceptable DOJ Director under a Bush or a Reagan(and contributed some “color” to their administrations as well), has been a poor and weak appointment for President Obama.
I avoid criticizing our President on sites where the “crazies” will jump on practically anything to support their odd world views, but we’re finally seeing the possibility of drug enforcement policies that make some sense, and Holder, and his Department, seems to be chasing the parade in the futile hopes of leading it. In the face of large opposition within his own Department from folks who are hoping to protect their “rice bowls.”
This is a fight he should have initiated at the very beginning of his DOJ appointment.
Many people will disagree with me, but I want people to know about this. :
The violent offenders are often subjected to excessive punishments too. Did you know that an assault charge, and conviction, does not require a person to injure anyone? A battery charge, and conviction, requires a violent act, but does not require a serious injury from the act. The punishments applied to these crimes often exceed 4 years imprisonment, and the victims are often not even injured, or they do not require medical attention. If you rob a bank, you may receive less jail time than a person mixed up in a fist fight.
This has been a result from prosecutors abusing their authority (they have immunity) and charging people with felonies, when felony charges are not applicable to the circumstances of many cases. There are many problems with our courts. Hard time for drug offenses are just a few of many problems.
I watched a TV program addressing an innocent man’s problems. When he applied for parole, a condition was that he would have to express remorse for the crime. Because he was innocent, he would not express remorse, he claimed he was innocent, and the parole board couldn’t grant him parole. It took ten years before the courts would act to exonerate him.
About six years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a convicted man had no right to access DNA evidence ( when he paid the cost ) for use in his appeal.
If you pay attention to what’s happening in our courts, you can learn about these “disturbing” facts of law.
Hey Copper : Can you agree with me on this ? – – There are so many problems with our courts that Eric Holder can only begin to repair the damage that has occurred over many years.