March 16, 2014

Holder Calls for Changes in Federal Low-Level Drug Sentences
By Frederick H. Lowe

Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from TheNorthStarNews.com

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder today endorsed proposed changes that would cut federal sentences for low-level drug offenders and dramatically reduce the Bureau of Prisons population over the next five years if adopted.

Holder, who testified before the U.S. Sentencing Commission, supports changes to Federal Sentencing Guidelines that would reserve the harshest penalties for the most serious drug offenders.

In addition, Holder's proposal would lower by two levels the base offense associated with various drug quantities involved in drug trafficking crimes.

If adopted, the change would affect nearly 70 percent of all drug trafficking offenders and reduce the average sentence by 11 months, or nearly 18% , according to the Sentencing Commission.

Commission members also project that the Bureau of Prisons population would drop by 6,550 inmates at the end of five years.

"This is a straightforward adjustment to sentencing ranges --- while measured in scope --- would nonetheless send a strong message about the fairness of our criminal justice system," Holder testified. "And it would help to rein in federal prison spending while focusing limited resources on the most serious threats to public safety."

The move is Holder's latest step to alter the federal government's approach to dealing with non-violent drug offenders.
Last August, Holder announced his "Smart on Crime" initiative, which included a major change to the department's charging policy intended to reserve strict, mandatory minimum sentences for high-level or violent-drug traffickers.

Holder noted that state and federal governments spent a combined $80 billion on incarceration during 2010 alone. He added that of the more than 216,000 current federal inmates, nearly half are serving time for drug-related crimes.

"This focused reliance on incarceration is not just financially unsustainable --- it comes with human and moral costs that are impossible to calculate," Holder said."The United States comprises five percent of the world's population, but it incarcerates almost a quarter of the world's prisoners."

Commission members are scheduled to vote on the proposals in April.