Attorney General Eric Holder Plans To End Mandatory Drug Sentencing For Non-Violent Drug Offenders
Mandatory drug sentencing and the disparity between the sentences of cocaine vs. crack offenders has long been protested as many of us rightfully viewed it as a war to lock up more Black people since African-Americans have easier access to crack which was pushed into Black neighborhoods by the C.I.A. This unfair sentencing practicing has been in effect since the 1980s.
Well it looks like The Obama Administration is finally about to fight some wars on behalf of Black people as the Justice Department plans to change how it prosecutes some non-violent drug offenders.
Under the changes, mandatory minimum prison sentences will be eliminated and Attorney General Eric Holder will unveil more changes today in a reconstruction of federal prison policies.
According to Reuters, Holder will outline the status of a broad, ongoing project intended to improve Justice Department sentencing policies across the country in a speech to the American Bar Association in San Francisco.
“I have mandated a modification of the Justice Department’s charging policies so that certain low-level, nonviolent drug offenders who have no ties to large-scale organizations, gangs, or cartels, will no longer be charged with offenses that impose draconian mandatory minimum sentences,” Holder is expected to say, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks provided by the Justice Department.
Holder will also reveal a plan to create a slate of local guidelines to determine if cases should be subject to federal charges.
The attorney general will point to the bipartisan backing of such goals in Congress, where there is “legislation aimed at giving federal judges more discretion in applying mandatory minimums to certain drug offenders.”
The Attorney General will also announce an updated plan for considering release for “inmates facing extraordinary or compelling circumstances – and who pose no threat to the public.”
Talk about a long time coming, salute to the Attorney General.
Hip Hop Enquirer Magazine | Follow us @HipHopEnquirer @IceblueVA
