Pubdate: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 Source: Dallas Morning News (TX) Copyright: 2013 The Dallas Morning News, Inc. Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/send-a-letter/ Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117 Page: 1A HOLDER TO EASE DRUG SENTENCING AG Says Charges Will Be ' Better Suited' To Actions of Nonviolent Offenders WASHINGTON - Attorney General Eric Holder is set to announce Monday that low-level, nonviolent drug offenders with no ties to gangs or large-scale drug organizations will no longer be charged with offenses that impose severe mandatory sentences. The new Justice Department policy is part of a comprehensive prison reform package that Holder will reveal in a speech to the American Bar Association in San Francisco, according to senior department officials. He is also expected to introduce a policy to reduce sentences for elderly, nonviolent inmates and find alternatives to prison for nonviolent criminals. Mandatory minimum prison sentences - a product of the government's war on drugs in the 1980s - limit the discretion of judges to impose shorter prison sentences. Under the altered policy, the attorney general said in his prepared remarks, defendants will instead be charged with offenses for which accompanying sentences "are better suited to their individual conduct, rather than excessive prison terms more appropriate for violent criminals or drug kingpins." Federal prisons are operating at nearly 40 percent above capacity and hold more than 219,000 inmates - with almost half of them serving time for drug-related crimes and many of them with substance-use disorders. In addition, 9 million to 10 million prisoners go through local jails each year. The cost of incarceration in the United States was $80 billion in 2010, according to the Justice Department. While the U.S. population has increased by about a third since 1980, the federal prison population has grown by about 800 percent. Aggressive enforcement of federal criminal laws is necessary, but "we cannot simply prosecute or incarcerate our way to becoming a safer nation," Holder said. "Today, 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." "We need to ensure that incarceration is used to punish, deter and rehabilitate - not merely to convict, warehouse and forget," he said. Refocusing resources The attorney general can make some of these changes to drug policy on his own. He is giving new instructions to federal prosecutors on how they should write their criminal complaints when charging low-level drug offenders, to avoid triggering the mandatory minimum sentences. Under certain statutes, inflexible sentences for drug crimes are mandated regardless of the facts or conduct in the case, reducing the discretion of prosecutors, judges and juries. Some of Holder's other initiatives will require legislative change. He is urging passage of legislation with bipartisan support that is aimed at giving federal judges more discretion in applying mandatory minimum sentences to certain drug offenses. "Such legislation will ultimately save our country billions of dollars," Holder said of a bill supported by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rand Paul, R-Ky. "Although incarceration has a role to play in our justice system, widespread incarceration at the federal, state and local levels is both ineffective and unsustainable." Holder said new approaches - which he is calling the "Smart On Crime" initiative - are the result of a Justice Department review he launched early this year. "By targeting the most serious offenses, prosecuting the most dangerous criminals, directing assistance to crime ' hot spots,' and pursuing new ways to promote public safety, deterrence, efficiency and fairness - we can become both smarter and tougher on crime," Holder said. The attorney general said 17 states have directed money away from prison construction and toward programs and services such as treatment and supervision that are designed to reduce the problem of repeat offenders. In Kentucky, legislation has reserved prison beds for the most serious offenders and refocused resources on community supervision. The state is projected to reduce its prison population by more than 3,000 over the next 10 years, saving more than $400 million. He also cited investments in drug treatment in Texas for nonviolent offenders and changes to parole policies which he said brought about a reduction in the prison population of more than 5,000 inmates last year. Marijuana policy Holder also said the department is expanding a policy for considering compassionate release for inmates facing extraordinary or compelling circumstances, and who pose no threat to the public. He said the expansion will include elderly inmates who did not commit violent crimes and who have served significant portions of their sentences. Holder does not plan to announce any changes in the Justice Department's policy on marijuana, which is illegal under federal law. Two states, Colorado and Washington, legalized marijuana in November. Supporters of the measures argued that hundreds of millions of dollars have been wasted on a failed war against marijuana that has filled American prisons will low-level offenders. Supporters also contended that decriminalization would bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue that could be used for education, health care and other government services. But the legalization measures directly violate the federal Controlled Substances Act, which prohibits the production, possession and sale of marijuana and classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, putting it in the same category as LSD and heroin. The Justice Department has not said how it will respond to the measures in Colorado and Washington, leaving state and local officials confused about exactly how to proceed. FROM WIRE REPORTS - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom