WASHINGTON - The Justice Department is preparing to release about 6,000 inmates from federal prisons starting at the end of this month, as part of an effort to ease overcrowding and roll back the penalties given to nonviolent drug dealers in the 1980s and 1990s, federal law enforcement officials said. About a third of the inmates are undocumented immigrants who will be deported. Because many of those inmates were convicted of crimes that are significant legal offenses, President Obama is unlikely to be criticized as sharply for their release by those who have objected to past deportation decisions by the administration. [continues 772 words]
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department is preparing to release roughly 6,000 inmates from federal prisons starting at the end of this month as part of an effort to ease overcrowding and roll back the harsh penalties given to nonviolent drug dealers in the 1980s and '90s, according to federal law enforcement officials. About a third of the inmates are undocumented immigrants who will be deported. Because many of them were convicted of significant legal offenses, President Obama is unlikely to be criticized as sharply for their release by those who have objected to past deportations by the administration. [continues 816 words]
The Inmate Release Is Part of a Big Change in Federal Drug Policy. washington) The Justice Department is set to release about 6,000 inmates early from prison - the largest ever release of federal prisoners-to reduce crowding and provide relief to drug offenders who received harsh sentences in the past three decades. The inmates from federal prisons nationwide will be set free by the department's Bureau of Prisons between Oct. 30 andNov. 2. Most of them will go to halfway houses and home confinement before being put on supervised release. [continues 930 words]
Nonviolent Drug Crimes Mass Release May Be One of Largest in U.S. History WASHINGTON - The Justice Department is preparing to release roughly 6,000 inmates from federal prison as part of an effort to ease overcrowding and roll back the harsh penalties given to nonviolent drug dealers in the 1980s and 1990s, according to federal law-enforcement officials. The release, scheduled to occur from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2, will be one of the largest one-time discharges of inmates from federal prisons in American history, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing matters that had not been publicly announced by the Justice Department. [continues 611 words]
(AP) - Thousands of federal inmates serving sentences for drug crimes are set for early release next month under a cost-cutting measure intended to reduce the nation's prison population. The more than 5,500 inmates set to go free in November are among the first of what could eventually be tens of thousands eligible for release. The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted last year to retroactively apply substantially lower recommended sentences for those convicted of drug-related felonies. The commission, an independent panel that sets federal sentencing policy, estimated the prison terms would be cut by an average of 25 months. [continues 200 words]
Biggest One-Time Release of U.S. Inmates The Justice Department is set to release about 6,000 inmates early from prison - the largest one-time release of federal prisoners - in an effort to reduce overcrowding and provide relief to drug offenders who received harsh sentences over the past three decades, according to U.S. officials. The inmates from federal prisons nationwide will be set free by the department's Bureau of Prisons between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2. About two-thirds of them will go to halfway houses and home confinement before being put on supervised release. About one-third are foreign citizens who will be quickly deported, officials said. [continues 1037 words]
WASHINGTON - The Justice Department is set to release about 6,000 inmates early from prison - the largest one-time release of federal prisoners - in an effort to reduce overcrowding and provide relief to drug offenders who received harsh sentences over the past three decades. The inmates from federal prisons nationwide will be set free by the department's Bureau of Prisons between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2. Most of them will go to halfway houses and home confinement before being put on supervised release. [continues 207 words]
In a rare and heartening example of bipartisanship, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have united around a proposal for a major reform of federal criminal sentencing laws. The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 unveiled last week by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, a conservative Republican, and Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, a liberal Democrat, would limit the imposition of mandatory minimum sentences, increase the discretion of judges in sentencing and make it easier for defendants in drug cases to take advantage of "safety valves" that can spare them mandatory minimums. [continues 351 words]
Canada's three major opposition parties agree: It's time to reform Canada's pot laws - though they all have their own take on how that ought to be done. The federal Liberals were the first to make a declarative stance that Canada needs to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana. "We don't think this war on drugs has worked," said Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, Liberal candidate for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country. A recent World Health Organization report noted that Canada has the highest teen usage of marijuana, something that would likely go down if it were better regulated, Goldsmith-Jones said. "Right now, it's easier to get a hold of marijuana than cigarettes or alcohol for minors," she said. "We're trying to address that because we want to keep young people healthy. We think legalizing marijuana is the best way to keep it out of the hands of children and to keep the proceeds from funding criminal activities." Goldsmith-Jones said the exact model for how marijuana would be sold legally would be determined in consultation with the Canadian people. "We have to have a public debate. Right now, we have not been able to do that," she said The NDP's campaign is promising to decriminalize simple possession of the pot, but their plan stops short of full legalization. "(Decriminalization) is something we can do immediately and we don't have to work with the provinces to do it," said Carol! Baird Ellan, NDP candidate in Burnaby North-Seymour and a former judge. "Our view is no one should be criminalized for simple possession. They shouldn't have a criminal record. ... It's something where the penalty is unnecessary for those kinds of issues." [continues 451 words]
A University of Waterloo researcher is slamming Stephen Harper's assertion that marijuana is "infinitely worse" than tobacco, saying the remark has no basis in scientific fact. The Conservative leader made the comment the morning after the final debate of the election campaign Friday night, during which he criticized Justin Trudeau's proposal to legalize the drug. Asked by a reporter on Saturday why he so strongly objected to the Liberal leader's plan, Harper said there is "overwhelming and growing" evidence of "the bad long-term effects" of marijuana use. Noting that authorities have spent decades trying to discourage Canadians from using tobacco, he said "marijuana is infinitely worse, and is something we do not want to encourage." [continues 336 words]
'No comparison' between harms of marijuana, tobacco, public health experts say Public health experts are slamming Stephen Harper's assertion that marijuana is "infinitely worse" than tobacco, saying the remark has no basis in scientific fact. The Conservative leader made the comment the morning after the final debate of the election campaign Friday night, during which he criticized Justin Trudeau's proposal to legalize the drug. Asked by a reporter on Saturday why he so strongly objected to the Liberal leader's plan, Harper said there is "overwhelming and growing" evidence of "the bad, long-term effects" of marijuana use. Noting that authorities have spent decades trying to discourage tobacco use, he said "marijuana is infinitely worse, and is something we do not want to encourage." [continues 265 words]
The sentencing reform bill introduced in the Senate on Thursday falls far short of what is needed, but it is a crucial first step on the long path toward unwinding the federal government's decades-long reliance on prisons as the answer to every ill. For starters, it is worth noting the bipartisan nature of this legislation. In a Senate that can't agree on the time of day, top Republican and Democratic senators - most notably Senator Charles Grassley, Republican of Iowa and chairman of the Judiciary Committee, as well as a longtime supporter of harsh sentencing laws - negotiated for months to produce a concrete set of fixes. [continues 440 words]
The Conservatives Have Set Minimum Sentences but Others Advocate for Tickets Instead of Jail Time Plead guilty or go to jail. Those were Kim Hale's options after police raided his rural property and found 30 marijuana plants hanging in a barn nearly a year ago. After multiple court visits, rather than go to trial and risk jail time, the 56-year-old pleaded guilty to production of marijuana in August. He was hit with a sentence of 18 months probation and a $9,100 fine. [continues 823 words]
Pretty much everybody from Barack Obama to Carly Fiorina seems to agree that far too many Americans are stuck behind bars. And pretty much everybody seems to have the same explanation for how this destructive era of mass incarceration came about. First, the war on drugs got out of control, meaning that many nonviolent people wound up in prison. Second, mandatoryminimum sentencing laws led to a throw-away-thekey culture, with long and pointlessly destructive prison terms. It's true that mass incarceration is a horrific problem. Back in the 1970s the increase in incarceration did help reduce the crime [continues 441 words]
WASHINGTON - A bipartisan group of Senate leaders on Thursday announced a joint effort to ease unduly long prison sentences and enact other criminal justice reforms, but chances that Congress will actually act on the issues are slim, given that lawmakers in the House are developing separate proposals. The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, introduced by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., top leaders on the Senate Judiciary Committee, calls for shorter prison terms for drug felons and eliminates the so-called "three strikes" rule mandating life sentences. It also seeks to end mass long-term incarceration of prisoners that has led to severe prison overcrowding and skyrocketing costs. [continues 342 words]
Mandatory minimum sentences should be reserved for maximally grave crimes - murder, for example. Parliament should shape criminal law as a matter of well-proportioned policy, and minimums should be unusual. Even so, the courts - not least the Supreme Court of Canada - should give Parliament some leeway to craft laws that sometimes include mandatory minimum sentences. This month, an Ontario Superior Court judge had to decide whether to apply a six-month mandatory sentence for Duc Vu, a participant in a major marijuana grow-op. [continues 287 words]
'We Are Absolutely Philosophically Committed to It,' Says PM Despite another legal setback, the Conservatives remain committed to mandatory minimum prison sentences for drug traffickers and other serious criminals, Stephen Harper says. The Ontario Superior Court struck down a mandatory six-month minimum sentence for growing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, a decision Harper said his government would study. "We think it is important that those who traffic drugs, who destroy lives, face sufficient penalty under the law," Harper said Tuesday. "A mandatory minimum is a mandatory prison sentence for certain types of crime - drug trafficking, murder, other acts of violence. We think there are situations where it is inconceivable that a court would deliver a verdict that does not involve a penalty of time in prison." [continues 232 words]
An Ontario judge has struck down one of the Conservative government's signature drug laws - a six-month minimum jail term for growing between six and 200 marijuana plants for the purpose of trafficking. The ruling came after a constitutional challenge brought by a man who had pleaded guilty to working in a grow-op. The man, Duc Vu, 42, of Brampton, Ont., called the minimum sentences for growing marijuana"cruel and unusual punishment" under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And the judge agreed. [continues 749 words]
