Pubdate: Thu, 15 Aug 2013
Source: Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT)
Copyright: 2013 Deseret News Publishing Corp.
Contact:  http://www.deseretnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/124
Author: Marcor Peterson

FLAWED MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES FOR DRUG-RELATED CRIMES

I would like to applaud Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, along with Richard
Durbin, D-Ill., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., for their
bipartisan effort to give judges more discretion in handing out drug
sentences. They are using the correct avenues to change the flawed
mandatory minimum sentences for drug-related crimes that flood our
prisons with low-level offenders. Attorney General Eric Holder
recently announced a similar policy shift within the Justic
Department, but it is not his place to choose how to enforce current
laws. He must wait for Congress to amend the drug laws first, and once
they have done their jobs, he can do his.

Marcor Peterson

Alpine
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