Pubdate: Thu, 13 Mar 2014
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2014 The Washington Post Company
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Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Author: Sari Horwitz
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HOLDER: SHORTEN DRUG TERMS

Move Part of Effort to Reduce Jail Population

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Thursday will urge reduced 
sentences for defendants in most of the nation's drug cases, part of 
his effort to cut the burgeoning U.S. prison population and reserve 
stiff penalties for the most violent traffickers.

Holder's proposal, which is expected to be approved by the 
independent agency that sets sentencing policies for federal judges, 
would affect 70 percent of drug offenders in the criminal justice 
system, according to figures provided by Justice Department 
officials. It would reduce sentences by an average of nearly a year.

"Certain types of cases result in too many Americans going to prison 
for far too long, and at times for no truly good public safety 
reason," Holder plans to tell the U.S. Sentencing Commission, 
according to excerpts of his testimony provided to The Washington 
Post. "Although the United States comprises just five percent of the 
world's population, we incarcerate almost a quarter of the world's prisoners."

Like Holder's previous criminal justice reforms, the move is likely 
to be hailed by civil liberties groups and assailed by some lawmakers 
who think the administration is chipping away at federal policies 
designed to deter criminals and improve public safety.

The seven-member sentencing panel has proposed an amendment to 
federal sentencing guidelines and will vote on it as soon as April. 
Until then, federal judges must refer to current sentencing 
guidelines. Holder, however, will instruct his prosecutors in a memo 
Thursday not to press judges to impose the longer sentences in the 
current guidelines if attorneys for drug offenders seek shorter 
sentences for their clients that would be permissible under the new policy.

Under current mandatory minimum guidelines, a drug offender convicted 
of possessing 500 grams of cocaine or 28 grams of crack would face a 
term of 63 to 78 months. Holder is proposing that the time in such a 
case be reduced to 51 to 63 months.

"By reserving the most severe penalties for dangerous and violent 
drug traffickers, we can better protect public safety, deterrence and 
rehabilitation while saving billions of dollars and strengthening 
communities," Holder plans to say.

The lower sentencing ranges would result in a 17 percent decrease in 
the average length of time imposed on a drug offender, Justice 
Department officials said.

Holder's new sentencing proposal is the latest step in his agenda to 
revise the criminal justice system. In August, he announced that 
low-level nonviolent drug offenders with no connection to gangs or 
large-scale drug organizations would not automatically be charged 
with offenses that call for severe mandatory sentences. That measure, 
however, didn't address the sentencing ranges defendants could face 
under federal guidelines.

Holder's latest policy change would reduce the Bureau of Prison 
population by 6,550 people within five years, according to the 
Justice Department. Of the more than 216,000 federal inmates, nearly 
half are serving time for drug-related crimes.

At the same time it is seeking to reduce sentences for nonviolent 
offenders, the Justice Department is putting greater focus on violent 
traffickers who bring heroin and other drugs into the United States.

Separately, Holder in August announced a policy to reduce sentences 
for elderly, nonviolent inmates and to find alternatives to prison 
for nonviolent criminals. He traveled to several cities, including 
Philadelphia and Peoria, Ill., to highlight drug treatment programs 
that serve as alternatives to prison for low-level offenders.

The attorney general said his initiative would save the government 
billions of dollars and stop what he calls a destructive cycle of 
drug abuse, crime and incarceration. The United States, including 
state and local jurisdictions, spends nearly $83 billion each year on 
corrections. The federal government alone spends $6.4 billion 
annually to maintain its prisons, accounting for 25 percent of the 
Justice Department's annual budget.

Holder's efforts to reduce the prison population have drawn criticism 
from Sen. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa), the ranking Republican on the 
Senate Judiciary Committee, and other lawmakers who say the 
administration is undermining policies that were set up to deter 
would-be criminals.

But many of Holder's criminal justice policies have been praised by 
civil liberties groups and have bipartisan support in Congress. A 
bill that Holder and the Obama administration support to reform 
prison sentences includes both Republican and Democratic sponsors, 
including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy 
(D-Vt.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

Last week, at the Conservative Political Action Conference at 
National Harbor, Md., Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry said that 
prison reform is one issue on which he agrees with Holder.

"There aren't many things that the president and the attorney general 
and I agree about. Know what I mean?" said Perry, who ran for president in 2012.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom