Pubdate: Fri, 20 Sep 2013
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2013 The Washington Times, LLC.
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Rand Paul
Note: Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, is a member of the Senate 
Foreign Relations and Homeland Security committees.

THE DEVASTATING EFFECT OF A DRUG-WAR WEAPON

Mandatory Sentences Have Ruined Many Nonviolent Offenders

If I told you that in America almost 1 million black Americans were 
forever forbidden from voting, you might think I was talking about 
Jim Crow 50 years ago, but you would be wrong. According to the 
Sentencing Project, a staggering number of nonviolent individuals who 
have been released from prison, are not on probation or parole and 
who have committed no further crimes, are forever prohibited from 
voting. Many black Americans are prevented from ever voting because 
of the war on drugs.

On Wednesday, I testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and 
described the injustice and effects of mandatory-minimum sentences.

These sentences are disproportionally affecting minorities and 
low-income communities. A recent report from the American Civil 
Liberties Union reports that blacks are four to five times more 
likely to be convicted for drug possession. Some dismiss this because 
they think blacks are committing more drug crimes, but in June, The 
New York Times reported that although black Americans were four times 
more likely to be arrested than whites for marijuana possession, both 
groups used the drug at similar rates.

Why are the arrest rates so lopsided? One widely cited study by The 
San Jose Mercury News reviewed 700,000 criminal cases that were 
matched by crime and criminal history of the defendant. The analysis 
revealed that similarly situated whites were far more successful than 
blacks and Hispanics in the plea-bargaining process.

Today, the United States incarcerates more people than any other 
country in the world, and the racial disparity in arrest rates has 
been absolutely devastating to the black community. Professor 
Michelle Alexander has even called the war on drugs "the New Jim Crow."

It's not just black Americans. Regardless of the color of your skin, 
the war on drugs has ruined the lives of thousands of young people.

I know a man about my age in Kentucky who grew marijuana plants in 
his apartment closet in college. Thirty years later, he still can't 
vote, can't own a gun, and when he looks for work, he must check the 
box that basically says: "I'm a convicted felon, and I guess I'll 
always be one." Getting a job is nearly impossible for him.

John Horner was a 46-year-old father of three when he sold some of 
his prescription painkillers to a friend. His friend turned out to be 
a police informant, and he was charged with dealing drugs. Horner 
pleaded guilty and was later sentenced to the mandatory minimum of 25 
years in prison.

John will be 72 years old by the time he is released, and his three 
young children will have grown up without him. The informant, who had 
a long history of drug offenses, was more fortunate - he received a 
reduced sentence of just 18 months, and is now free.

So many judges oppose mandatory-minimum sentencing precisely because 
such an arbitrary law does not take into account that each case is different.

I want to be clear: I am not advocating for any type of 
get-out-of-jail-free passes for individuals who break the law. I am 
simply arguing that the federal government should get out of the way, 
and allow local and state judges to do their jobs.

Mandatory-minimum sentences automatically impose a minimum number of 
years in prison for specific crimes - usually related to drugs. By 
design, mandatory-sentencing laws take discretion away from 
prosecutors and judges so as to impose harsh sentences, regardless of 
circumstances.

Since mandatory sentencing began in the 1970s in response to a 
growing drug-and-crime epidemic, America's prison population has 
quadrupled, to 2.4 million. America now jails a higher percentage of 
its citizens than any other country, including China and Iran, at the 
staggering cost of $80 billion a year. Drug offenders in the United 
States spend more time under the criminal justice system's formal 
control than drug offenders anywhere else in the world.

Most public officials - liberals, conservatives and libertarians - 
have decided that mandatory-minimum sentencing is unnecessary. At 
least 20 states, both red and blue, have reformed their 
mandatory-sentencing laws in some way, and Congress is considering a 
bipartisan bill that would do the same for federal crimes.

About 1.3 million people - more than half the total prison population 
- - are behind bars for nonviolent crimes, and federal prisons are 40 
percent over capacity. "It's a waste of tax dollars and human lives," 
said Anthony Papa of the Drug Policy Alliance. It's time for these 
unjust laws to end. On March 20, I introduced the Justice Safety 
Valve Act of 2013 with the Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat. 
We have been joined by Sens. Carl Levin, Michigan Democrat; Angus 
King, Maine independent; and Kristen Gillibrand, New York Democrat, 
in the Senate, and Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, Virginia Democrat, 
joined by 11 others, introduced similar legislation in the House. The 
legislation is short and simple. It amends current law to provide 
"authority to impose a sentence below a statutory mandatory minimum" 
if certain requirements are met.

Mandatory-minimum sentencing has done little to address the very real 
problem of drug abuse, while also doing great damage by destroying so 
many lives. Each case should be judged on its own merits, yet 
mandatory minimums prevent this from happening. The Justice Safety 
Valve Act will be an important step in improving justice in our 
nation's courtrooms.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom