September 23, 2013

Prison-Industrial Complex Watch: Amnesty For Non-Violent Drug Offenders?

Last month Attorney General Eric Holder declared “too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement reason.” For many, this was a welcome, although limited change of policy. To get around existing mandatory minimum laws, Holder instructed federal prosecutors to use discretion for non-violent drug offenders. By not listing the quantities of drugs, prosecutors can’t avoid the trigger mechanisms in mandatory minimum sentencing rules. This is definitely a good first step, but we need all mandatory minimum laws repealed. We should not remove the ability of a judge and jury to rule on the merits of each case.

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September 19, 2013

Prison-Industrial Complex Watch: End Mandatory Minimum Sentences For Non-Violent Drug Offenses

It’s time for Americans to pay attention to what we are doing to so many non-violent drug offenders. We put them in jail, take away their right to vote when they get out, in many cases for minor offenses, that probably shouldn’t be illegal in the first place. Americans need to see the forest for the trees when it comes to U.S. drug laws. Why is it so hard to change failed policy?

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August 12, 2013

Attorney General Eric Holder Announces Major Curtailment Of ‘Mandatory Minimum’ Sentences For Non-Violent Drug Offenses

In episode 4 of Left Call Radio, I spoke about America’s “prison-industrial complex” and how mandatory minimum sentences take discretion away form judges and juries. Mandatory minimum sentences do not make us safer. What these unnecessary and harsh sentences do is ruin the lives of people who commit low-level, non-violent drug offenses, while the rest of us can revel in our own righteous indignation. — Hey, I wouldn’t have committed that crime. So what do I care?

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