White House Seeks Drug Clemency Candidates

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: NYTIMES

The Obama administration, in its effort to curtail severe penalties in low-level drug cases, is taking the unprecedented step of encouraging defense lawyers to suggest inmates whom the president might let out of prison early.

Speaking at a New York State Bar Association event Thursday, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole said the Justice Department wanted to send more names to White House for clemency consideration.

“This is where you can help,” he said, in remarks the Justice Department circulated in advance.

Prison officials will also spread the word among inmates that low-level, nonviolent drug offenders might be eligible to apply for clemency.

The clemency drive is part of the administration’s effort to undo sentencing discrepancies that began during the crack epidemic decades ago. Offenses involving crack, which was disproportionately used in black communities, carried more severe penalties than crimes involving powder cocaine, which was usually favored by affluent white users.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/31/us/politics/white-house-seeks-drug-clemency-candidates.html

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Bureau of Prisons now eats up 30 percent of the Justice Department’s budget....

[mopinko]

1. but, but

yeah

[Nye Bevan]

2. Ummmm.... how about all nonviolent pot offenders, for starters? (nt)

[Jesus Malverde]

4. surprisingly absent from the discussion...nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

8. I don't think there are that many pot people in federal prison.

Although it's a shame and a crime that any are there.

There are some legitimate medical marijuana people doing federal time. They would be great candidates.

Then there are the marijuana lifers. A very small number, but also excellent candidates. Some of these guys have been in since the 1970s or 1980s for getting caught with major pot loads.

People like to talk about freeing all the pot prisoners and making room for real criminals, but there just aren't that many people in prison for pot anymore. I think MPP estimates 30-40,000 in state and federal prisons. That's only about 10% or so of all drug war prisoners.

[Earth_First]

10. That figure does not account for individuals serving local juisdictional sentences for convictions.

[JoeyT]

3. K&R

This is definitely progress. We can feed a hell of a lot of hungry kids for the cost of keeping one guy in jail for being in possession of a substance some people disapprove of.

[n2doc]

5. I can hear the righties howling already

"Obama releases dangerous criminals ! They're coming to get YOU!!!!"

[AtheistCrusader]

6. Interesting.

Encouraging.

[DeSwiss]

7. Just ask Holder and Lionheart for copies of their recent raids.....

- That's good place to start.

[uncle ray]

11. like the November raid in Colorado?

that netted one guy on weapons charges? we can fairly argue that the raids were an unfair assault on legitimate business under state law, but they resulted in zero non-violent drug offenders being locked up.

the vast majority of non-violent drug offenders are in state prisons and local jails. if the feds legalize pot tomorrow, your locale still can and will ban cannabis possession locally.

[SansACause]

9. How about all of them?

That would free up a lot of room for bankers.

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Major Drug Sentencing Reforms

Today, by a vote of 13 to 5, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved what the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) calls ”the biggest overhaul in federal drug sentencing in decades.” The Smarter Sentencing Act, introduced by Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) last July, would cut mandatory minimum sentences in half for some drug offenses, make the reduced crack penalties enacted in 2010 retroactive, and expand the category of defendants eligible for sentencing below the mandatory minimums. “The Smarter Sentencing Act is the most significant piece of criminal justice reform to make it to the Senate floor in several years,” says Laura W. Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington Legislative Office.

The Durbin-Lee bill does not go as far as the Justice Safety Valve Act, introduced last March by Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Pat Leahy (who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee). That bill would have made mandatory minimums effectively optional by alllowing judges to depart from them in the interest of justice. The Smarter Sentencing Act is neverthless a big improvement. The crack provision alone could free thousands of prisoners serving sentences that almost everyone now concedes are excessively long. It would dramatically reduce the penalties for certain nonviolent drug offenses, changing 20-year, 10-year, and five-year mandatory minimums to 10 years, five years, and two years, respectively. It would allow more nonviolent offenders to escape mandatory minimums entirely by loosening the criteria for the “safety valve,” allowing two criminal background points instead of just one.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2014/01/30/senate-judiciary-committee-approves-major-drug-sentencing-reforms/

[marlakay]

13. How about that young guy who had new baby

and was legally doing medical marijuana in CA and put in Fed prison.