Pubdate: Tue, 13 Aug 2013
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2013 The Washington Post
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Authors: Sari Horwitz and Matt Zapotosky, The Washington Post

PRISON REFORM DRAWS PRAISE

The Plan Would End Severe Mandatory Charges in Drug Cases.

Washington - Attorney General Eric Holder's proposed prison reforms 
drew praise from criminal justice experts Monday, but some critics 
said the proposals do not go far enough to begin overhauling a costly 
and broken law enforcement system.

In an effort to reduce the population of the nation's overflowing 
federal prisons, Holder directed his 94 U.S. attorneys across the 
country to stop charging low-level, nonviolent drug offenders with 
offenses that impose severe mandatory sentences.

The disparities in the criminal justice system unfairly hit poor and 
minority communities the hardest, Holder said in a speech at the 
annual meeting of the American Bar Association in San Francisco. 
Holder cited a recent "deeply troubling report" that indicates that 
black male offenders have received sentences nearly 20 percent longer 
than those imposed on white males convicted of similar crimes.

"This isn't just unacceptable," Holder said. "It is shameful."

Many of Holder's proposals, which are aimed at saving tens of 
millions in prison costs, have bipartisan support, and the Obama 
administration does not expect them to be politically controversial. 
In fact, there is strong conservative backing for reforming prisons 
and mandatory minimum laws, and Republican governors in some of the 
most conservative states have led the way on prison reform.

In Congress, Republican and Democratic leaders alike have introduced 
legislation aimed at giving federal judges more discretion in 
applying mandatory minimums to certain drug offenders.

Laura Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's 
Washington legislative office, said the ACLU is "thrilled" by Holder's actions.

"These policies will make it more likely that wasteful and harmful 
federal prison overcrowding will end," Murphy said.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he was heartened by the Obama 
administration's willingness to review mandatory minimum sentencing. 
But Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said the law should be changed 
only in conjunction with Congress.

"The overreach by the administration to unilaterally decide which 
laws to enforce and which laws to ignore is a disturbing trend," Grassley said.

Holder cited figures that show the federal prison population has 
grown almost 800 percent since 1980.

"With an outsized, unnecessarily large prison population, we need to 
ensure that incarceration is used to punish, deter and rehabilitate, 
not merely to warehouse and forget," he said.

Julie Stewart, president of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, said 
that Holder's proposals are a "great step in the right direction" but 
added that "what's being proposed here is very modest."

"These are minor tweaks compared to the major overhauls we've seen 
enacted at the state level," Stewart said.

Indeed, Holder pointed to recent state initiatives as models for 
significant national prison reform.

In Kentucky, new legislation has reserved prison cells for the most 
serious offenders, instead focusing resources on community 
supervision and other alternatives. The state is projected to reduce 
its prison population by more than 3,000 over the next 10 years, 
saving more than $400 million, according to Justice Department officials.

Investments in drug treatment for nonviolent offenders and changes to 
parole policies in Texas reduced the prison population by more than 
5,000 inmates last year.
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