Pubdate: Tue, 13 Aug 2013
Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)
Copyright: 2013 Associated Press
Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html
Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24
Authors: Pete Yost and Paul Elias, Associated Press

HOLDER IS TARGETING LENGTHY MANDATORY DRUG SENTENCES

AG Would Curb Long Terms for Low-Level Offenders Packing Prisons

WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Eric Holder announced a major 
shift Monday in federal sentencing policies, targeting long mandatory 
terms that he said have flooded the nation's prisons with low-level 
drug offenders and diverted crime-fighting dollars that could be far 
better spent.

If Holder's policies are implemented aggressively, they could mark 
one of the most significant changes in the way the federal 
criminal-justice system handles drug cases since the government 
declared a war on drugs in the 1980s.

As a first step, Holder has instructed federal prosecutors to stop 
charging many non-violent drug defendants with offenses that carry 
mandatory minimum sentences. His next step will be working with a 
bipartisan group in Congress to give judges greater discretion in sentencing.

"We will start by fundamentally rethinking the notion of mandatory 
minimum sentences for drug-related crimes," Holder told the American 
Bar Association in San Francisco.

There are currently more than 219,000 federal inmates, and the 
prisons are operating at nearly 40 percent above capacity. Holder 
said the prison population "has grown at an astonishing rate - by 
almost 800 percent" since 1980. Almost half of the inmates are 
serving time for drug-related crimes.

Holder said he also wants to divert people convicted of low-level 
offenses to drug-treatment and community-service programs and expand 
a prison program to allow for release of some elderly, non-violent offenders.

The speech drew widespread praise, including from some of the people 
Holder will need most - Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he is encouraged by the Obama 
administration's view that mandatory minimum sentences for 
non-violent offenders promote injustice and do not serve public safety.

Paul and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., 
have introduced legislation to grant federal judges greater 
flexibility in sentencing. Leahy commended Holder for his efforts on 
the issue and said his committee will hold a hearing on the bill next month.

Sen. Dick Durbin, DIll., the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, said he 
looks forward to working on the issue with Holder and senators of both parties.

But support was not universal. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob 
Goodlatte, R-Va., said Holder "cannot unilaterally ignore the laws or 
the limits on his executive powers. While the attorney general has 
the ability to use prosecutorial discretion in individual cases, that 
authority does not extend to entire categories of people."

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate 
Judiciary Committee, said whether the law needs to be changed should 
be decided by Congress, along with the president.

"Instead, we're seeing the president attempt to run roughshod over 
the direct representatives of the people elected to write the laws," 
Grassley said. "The overreach by the administration to unilaterally 
decide which laws to enforce and which laws to ignore is a disturbing trend."

Rep. Paul Gosar, RAriz., agreed that Holder should not have taken the 
action without congressional approval.

"While reducing mandatory minimums may be good policy, I hope the 
attorney general fully understands that Congress should address the 
issue through legislation," Gosar said. "As I have repeatedly said, 
the attorney general does not get to pick which laws to enforce and 
which ones to toss out of the window."

But Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said the Obama administration had to 
act in part because Congress has failed to do so.

"This is another example of the president having to step in on a 
volatile but important issue because of a lack of action by 
Congress," Grijalva said. "We have bills before us on this issue all 
the time - and I support them - but they don't even get a hearing. .. 
I think what Holder did is a wise move and, frankly, overdue."

The impact of Holder's initiative could be significant, said Marc 
Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, a private group 
involved in research and policy reform of the criminal-justice system.

African-Americans and Hispanics probably would benefit the most from 
a change. Black people account for about 30 percent of federal drug 
convictions each year and Hispanics account for 40 percent, according to Mauer.

If state policy makers were to adopt similar policies, the impact of 
changes at the state level could be even broader. Currently, about 
225,000 state prisoners are incarcerated for drug offenses, according 
to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

One national survey from 15 years ago by the Sentencing Project 
indicated that 58 percent of state drug offenders had no history of 
violence or high-level drug dealing.

"These proportions on state prisoners may have shifted somewhat since 
that time, but it's still likely that a substantial proportion of 
state drug offenders fall into that category today," Mauer said.

Rep. Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., said he would support such legislation if it 
came before the House.

"I've always felt that mandatory sentencing was not something I 
supported," Pastor said. "I feel that a judge should have the 
discretion to mitigate a sentence or impose a harsher one depending 
on the circumstances and the facts of the case. That's the way to 
ensure that justice is served."

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., said something must be done to reduce 
prison overcrowding and save taxpayers' dollars.

"As a former prosecutor, I know how important it is to crack down on 
criminals and keep our communities safe," Kirkpatrick said. "But when 
our prisons are needlessly overcrowded, taxpayers are stuck with the 
tab. I support efforts to find a common-sense solution to this 
problem, and I'll be taking a closer look at what the attorney 
general is proposing."

In a three-page memo to all 94 U.S. Attorneys' Offices around the 
country, Holder said rising prison costs have resulted in reduced 
spending on law-enforcement agents, prosecutors and prevention and 
intervention programs.

"These reductions in public-safety spending require us to make our 
public-safety expenditures smarter and more productive," the memo stated.

In some cases where a defendant is not an organizer, leader, manager 
or supervisor of others, "prosecutors should decline to pursue 
charges triggering a mandatory minimum sentence," Holder's memo said.

In his speech to the ABA, the attorney general said, "We need to 
ensure that incarceration is used to punish, deter and rehabilitate - 
not merely to convict, warehouse and forget."

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.

The attorney general said that some issues are best handled at the 
state or local level and that he has directed federal prosecutors 
across the country to develop locally tailored guidelines for 
determining when federal charges should be filed and when they should not.

He 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 space for the most 
serious offenders and refocused resources on community supervision. 
The state, Holder said, 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 non-violent 
offenders and changes to parole policies, which he said brought about 
a reduction of more than 5,000 in the prison population last year.

He said similar efforts helped Arkansas reduce its prison population 
by more than 1,400. He also pointed to Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, 
Pennsylvania and Hawaii as states that have improved public safety 
while preserving limited resources.

San Francisco County District Attorney George Gascon applauded 
Holder's speech. "It's obviously a big shift in policy," Gascon said. 
"Now, let's see how the follow-through works."

In a state experiencing severe prison overcrowding, Gascon has been 
advocating "alternative" sentencing of low-level drug offenders since 
taking office as district attorney in January 2011. He previously 
served as the city's police chief.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to delay the early release 
of nearly 10,000 California inmates by year's end to ease 
overcrowding at 33 adult prisons.

Praising Holder's efforts, Laura Murphy, director of the American 
Civil Liberties Union's Washington Legislative Office, said the 
attorney general "is taking crucial steps to tackle our bloated 
federal-mass-incarceration crisis."

Julie Stewart, president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, 
said, "For the past 40 years, the Department of Justice, under both 
political parties, has promoted mandatory minimum sentencing like a 
one-way ratchet."

Former federal appellate Judge Timothy Lewis recalled that he once 
had to sentence a 19-year-old to 10 years in prison for conspiracy 
for being in a car where drugs were found.

Lewis, also a former prosecutor, said the teen, who was Black, was on 
course to be the first person in his family to go to college. 
Instead, Lewis had to send him to prison as the teen turned and 
screamed for his mother.

"I am just glad that someone finally has the guts to stand up and do 
something about what is a pervasively racist policy," said Lewis, who 
is African-American.
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