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^ßortlanb (Pbseruer Diversity Special Edition
August 14. 2013
Long Mandatory Sentencing Reforms Coming
Obama official
announces major
shift in policies
(AP) — Attorney General Eric
Holder announced a major shift
Monday in federal sentencing poli
cies, targeting long mandatory terms
that he said have flooded the nation's
prisons with low-level drug offend
ers and diverted crime-fighting dol
lars that could be far better spent.
If Holder's policies are imple
mented aggressively, they could
mark one of the most significant
changes in the way the federal crimi
nal justice system handles drug cases
since the government declared a war
on drugs in the 1980s
As a first step. Holder has in
structed federal prosecutors to
stop charging many nonviolent
drug defendants with offenses that
carry mandatory minimum sen
tences. His next step will be work
ing with a bipartisan group in Con
gress to give judges greater discre
tion in sentencing.
"We will start by fundamentally
rethinking the notion of mandatory
minimum sentences for drug-related
crimes," Holder told the American
Bar Association in San Francisco.
There are currently more than
219,000federal inmates, and the pris
ons are operating at nearly 40 per
cent above capacity. Holder said the
prison population "has grown at an
astonishing rate — by almost 800
percent" since 1980. Almost half the
inmates are serving time for drug-
related crimes.
Holder said he also wants to
divert people convicted of low-
level offenses to drug treatment
and community service programs
and expand a prison program to
allow for release of some elderly,
non-violent offenders.
The speech drew widespread
praise, including from some of the
people Holder will need most —
Democrats and Republicans on
Capitol Hill. But support was not
universal.
Still, the impact of Holder's initia
tive could be significant, said Marc
Mauer, executive director of the Sen
tencing Project, a private group in
volved in research and policy reform
of the criminal justice system.
African-Americans and Hispan
ics probably would benefit the most
from a change. African-Americans
account for about 30 percent of fed
eral drug convictions each year and
Hispanics account for 40 percent,
according to Mauer.
If state policymakers were to
adopt similar policies, the impact of
changes at the state level could be
even broader.
Currently, about 225,000 state
prisoners are incarcerated for drug
offenses, according to the U.S. Bu
reau of Justice Statistics. One na
tional survey from 15 years ago by
the Sentencing Project found that 58
percent of state drug offenders had
no history of violence or high-level
drug dealing.
Holder said rising prison costs
have resulted in reduced spending
on law enforcement agents, pros
ecutors and prevention and inter
vention programs.
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T R I@ M E T
’as of July 2013. currently working on the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Transit Project
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder targets mandatory prison terms.
His Legacy
Will Live On Strategy to Treat
Charles H.
Washington
P ublisher and
E ditor - in -C hief of
the P ortland
O bserver
Dec. 18 1951 -
Dec. 8 2012
Offenders Found
Providing drug and alcohol treat
ment to all of the highest-risk of
fenders would have saved Oregon
crime victims and tax payers an
estimated $21.6 million from 2008 to
2011, a new state audit has found.
Addressing the treatment needs
o f offenders is critical to reducing
crime and other societal ills caused
by substance abuse.
Currently, counties bear most of
the cost of treating former prison
inmates. Under the expansion of
Medicaid eligibility under the Af
fordable Care Act, released offend
ers not previously eligible for Med-
icaid may qualify for treatment paid
with 90 percent federal funds and
10 percent state funds.
“Substance abuse takes an enor
mous toll on our communities. This
audit makes the connection be
tween next year’s expanded Med
icaid coverage and county needs
for more treatment funding,” said
Oregon Secretary of State Kate
Brown. “Counties will save general
funds, more released offenders will
get treatment and our communities
will avoid more of the costs and
heartache of an offender’s contin
ued criminal involvement.”