Eric Holder is finally taking a swipe at the war on minority communities, (also known as The War on Drugs) that will prompt much needed changes in the criminal justice system.
On Monday, the Attorney General announced that low-level drug offenders with zero ties to gangs or large-scale drug organizations will not be charged with offenses that impose severe mandatory sentences.
The ruling will initiate a major change in the nation’s criminal justice system, and would scale back on those harsh sentences, diverting those low-level offenders to community service programs. It will also expand a prison program to allow for the release of some elderly, non-violent offenders.
If you recall, the previous mandatory sentences are a product of the government’s war on drugs in the 1980s and limit the discretion of judges to impose shorter prison sentences.
According to the Associated Press:
Under the altered policy, the attorney general said defendants will instead be charged with offenses for which accompanying sentences “are better suited to their individual conduct, rather than excessive prison terms more appropriate for violent criminals or drug kingpins.”
Holder is calling for a change in Justice Department policies to reserve the most severe penalties for drug offenses for serious, high-level or violent drug traffickers. According to the Washington Post, he has directed his 94 U.S. attorneys across the country to develop specific, locally tailored guidelines for determining when federal charges should be filed and when they should not.
“A vicious cycle of poverty, criminality and incarceration traps too many Americans and weakens too many communities,” Holder said on Monday, according to excerpts of his remarks that were provided to The Washington Post. “However, many aspects of our criminal justice system may actually exacerbate this problem rather than alleviate it.”
“Too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long and for no good law enforcement reason,” Holder plans to say. “We cannot simply prosecute or incarcerate our way to becoming a safer nation.”
We couldn’t agree more. Let’s celebrate this win and continue the fight against the war on drugs.
SOURCE: Washington Post | AP
