Pubdate: Mon, 12 Aug 2013
Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)
Copyright: 2013 USA Today
Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html
Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24
Author: Kevin Johnson, USA Today
Page: A1

HOLDER TO SEEK LIMITS ON MINIMUM SENTENCING

Attorney General Eric Holder will call today for major changes in the 
federal criminal justice system, including doing away with some 
mandatory minimum sentencing policies that have condemned scores of 
non-violent offenders to long prison terms and driven up the costs of 
incarceration.

In a speech before the American Bar Association, Holder will also 
push for early release of seniors and ill inmates who no longer pose 
a danger to society, yet require expensive special care.

"The bottom line is that, while the aggressive enforcement of federal 
criminal statutes remains necessary, we cannot simply prosecute or 
incarcerate our way to becoming a safer nation," Holder will say, 
according to excerpts of his prepared remarks. "We must never stop 
being tough on crime. But we must also be smarter on crime."

The attorney general's position echoes a rapidly evolving shift in 
law enforcement and penal policy that has been sweeping the states in 
recent years. Increasingly, officials are acknowledging that they can 
no longer bear the cost of warehousing thousands of non-violent 
offenders - mostly for drug crimes - who have been targets of 
especially harsh punishment starting more than two decades ago when 
crime was surging.

Yet as states, including Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky and Texas, have 
reduced their prison populations by referring more offenders to 
treatment or probation, the federal system has continued to grow and 
now is at least 40 percent over capacity with nearly 220,000 inmates, 
according to the Justice Department. About 25 percent of the Justice 
budget goes to fund prison-related operations.

"Almost half of them are serving time for drug-related crimes, and 
many have substance use disorders," according to the draft of 
Holder's remarks. He also notes that about 40 percent of federal 
prisoners are re-arrested or have their supervision revoked within 
three years after release, "often for technical or minor violations 
of the terms of their release."

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

Support for such changes has been building for months among civil 
rights advocates and lawmakers of diverse political stripes.

In March, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., 
joined with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on a proposal to allow judges 
sentencing flexibility in some cases that would otherwise be subject 
to mandatory minimum prison terms.

"Our reliance on mandatory minimums has been a great mistake," Leahy said then.

Paul said the mandatory sentences "reflect a Washington-knows-best, 
one-size-fits-all approach," which violates the principle "that 
people should be treated as individuals."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom