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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEric Holder May Release Sweeping Drug Sentencing Proposal
Admits Current Practices Are Discriminatory"I think there are too many people in jail for too long, and for not necessarily good reasons," Holder said in the interview, turning from the department's highly criticized crackdown on drug law enforcement. As NPR noted, almost half of the people in federal prison are serving time for drug charges.
"The war on drugs is now 30, 40 years old," he continued. "There have been a lot of unintended consequences. There's been a decimation of certain communities, in particular communities of color."
Holder hinted in the interview that the changes could include better prioritization of federal law enforcement and shortened sentences for minor drug offenses. According to NPR, Holder could announce his proposal as early as next week in a speech to the American Bar Association in San Francisco.
snappyturtle
(14,656 posts)We've too many lives lost to prison "life".
forestpath
(3,102 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Prepare for the revolution. Stock up on toilet paper.
progressoid
(49,825 posts)Will be interesting to see how (or if) this plays out.
immoderate
(20,885 posts)They made sentences as long as they could go. So what to do now...?
--imm
He's talking about reducing sentences
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)So, yeah, you probably do think that.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)I don't think Holder is any friend of the common man, he might do something for us by accident or maybe even on purpose if it doesn't conflict with the goals of the powerful but fight for us against the interests of the powerful? No, that's not going to happen.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)medical marijuana patients their medicine. To fill our jails with marijuana users and dispensers.
tridim
(45,358 posts)Rick has spoken.. The whole universe is falling, not just the sky.
Negativity is anti-progressive, and your shtick is fucking boring.
bobduca
(1,763 posts)"neo-du"
Pretty rich coming from a neo-liberal
tridim
(45,358 posts)It's why I joined DEMOCRATIC Underground 12 years ago.
Why did you join?
Response to bobduca (Reply #61)
bobduca This message was self-deleted by its author.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Do you agree that all the ad hominem attacks on Snowden are anti-progressive?
burnodo
(2,017 posts)this is a new way of thinking?
RC
(25,592 posts)That makes more people unemployable at many jobs.
Always question anything they do, especially that that seems good on the surface. There is always an sinister, ulterior motive.
Oilwellian
(12,647 posts)I guess teeny weeny baby steps is better than nothing.
Do you think small achievable steps aren't better than nothing? I've never understood that attitude.
Mr. David
(535 posts)prisons and jails immediately.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)But hopefully with enough of a push.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)Recursion
(56,582 posts)... and the prison administrators have done everything in their power to avoid implementing them.
frylock
(34,825 posts)let's say a $10,000/day fine for every day that the prison administrators are out of compliance.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)The guy who was in prison for running drugs has now hooked up with the Vice Lords and is suspected in the death of his cellmate, etc. Or the warden is making that up.
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)In fact one of my favorite bloggers just last night admitted that he's an alcohol addict.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/08/09/i-think-im-done/
I think I am going to go to AA and if necessary, rehab. Ive been a drunk since the first time I had a beer and got stoned with my buddy when I was thirteen years old, and I just cant do it any more. The first time I drank a few beers and felt that warm embrace as a teen, well, that was it. Its all been about that since then, but Im tired of being fat, Im tired of being worried about my health all day until I have a drink and forget about shit. Im just tired. I cant spend anymore time wondering if I am going to die of cirrhosis or die of throat cancer from cigars, cigarettes, and booze like Chris Hitchens. Its really killing me.
I am a very high functioning alcoholic and have been for years because of my sheer willpower and determination to not make changes, but I knew this time was coming for years. Hell, I almost joined Dean Esmay a decade ago (Dean is a warblogger most of you have never even heard of, but I knew him quite well) when he quit. But I thought I had shit under control. Several years ago, in a drunken late night stupor, I even called Chuck Butcher late night and talked to him, but I didnt listen to him and I just kept on keeping on.
CountAllVotes
(20,854 posts)He still believes he can handle it.
Enough said right there.
Thanks for the post in any event and best of luck to whoever this "blogger" is.
davidn3600
(6,342 posts)millennialmax
(331 posts)gvstn
(2,805 posts)He has no fight in him.
Nothing on Bush/Cheney's erosion of Constitutional rights. No one held accountable for the Banking mess. No real teeth on BP oil spill (make them clean it up until I feel safe eating shrimp/crabs from the gulf--about 20 years from now--at this pace).
He only goes forward with a case when he knows he can win with little opposition (See Snowden).
Several States have seen clear to acknowledge that gay marriage is a right but Holder hasn't challenged the ones that don't. Federal recognition should be the law of the land and he should sue any State that doesn't comply. Yes, Congress has to pass a GLBT law first but if Holder and Obama were out there telling us it was a scourge on our nation the last few years instead of meekly "moving forward" that law would have been passed with 68% of Americans approving.
Same with marijuana/drugs.
He has no fight in him when the other side has lawyers of their own, unless it is against whistle-blowing.
Th1onein
(8,514 posts)millennialmax
(331 posts)Nice try, though.
Th1onein
(8,514 posts)I think thou dost protest too much.
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)offense. Though, in my opinion, 100% decriminalization is the ideal response.
Cha
(295,917 posts)Make it so, AG Holder!
Rex
(65,616 posts)nt.
Safetykitten
(5,162 posts)tridim
(45,358 posts)You implication is BS. Holder is not the Neo-DU strawman you're convinced he is. You have been lied to.
JPMorgan Chase Faces Full-Court Press of Federal Investigations
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/jpmorgan-chase-faces-full-court-press-of-federal-investigations/
frylock
(34,825 posts)tridim
(45,358 posts)I received TWO settlement checks last month.
frylock
(34,825 posts)those settlements amount to you or I throwing a five-dollar bill in the trash. they reaped IMMENSE profits through their illegal activities. they'll just write off these settlements as another cost of doing business.
RainDog
(28,784 posts)They were introduced in Feb. 2013.
I'm glad to see that Congress and the AG office are attempting to bring some sanity back to the nation regarding the war on drugs. I hope Holder will also agree, as states have asked, to allow them to implement their cannabis laws without federal interference.
The BEST thing that could happen at this time, tho, is for Congress to vote to remove cannabis from the drug schedule/CSA and to provide a framework for taxation - which is what the Polis and Blumenauer bills would do.
Coyotl
(15,262 posts)How many millions of votes stolen in the last 40 years??
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)The problem is the ones that don't need to be changed either through state legislation or initiatives. 2 states voting while in prison, 13 allow it after release so that's 15. California, Colorado, Connecticut, and New York don't allow it if you are on Parole. Those would be the first four I'd go after. Beyond that you have 31 others which have tougher laws.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Those consequences were absolutely intended right from the very beginning, in fact they were the entire purpose, what an amazingly disingenuous statement.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)And the sooner we can all acknowledge that, contrary to your belief, nobody wanted it to end up how it has, the better, IMO.
DAPCA was passed as our implementation of the Single Convention, which had its roots way back in the League of Nations. This has been a multi-generational fiasco pursued by many interests for many reasons.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)None of these laws were aimed at the elite, upper class white folks, since the end of Alcohol Prohibition, which came and went remarkably rapidly considering it took a Constitutional Amendment on both ends to do it and undo it. The politicians learned their lesson well with that one, don't fuck with the drugs of choice of upper class elite white folks.
Chinese, Hispanics, Blacks, Hippies, Gays, all unpopular minorities of one sort or another, all deliberately and purposely targeted in the Drug War. People, including politicians, didn't used to be so circumspect about putting forth their true motives as they are today, the hatred and desire to discriminate was quite open and aboveboard.
randome
(34,845 posts)[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)I thought you knew the history of all this? The DEA operates all over the world.
By any rational measure cannabis is a safer and more benign drug all around than alcohol and yet it's illegal in every single country on the damn planet.
That did not happen by accident, every single government in the world is not that stupid.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)I definitely wouldn't call it a US-only initiative
EOTE
(13,409 posts)Do you REALLY think the racism inherent in the WoD is accidental? Do you REALLY think that the fact that the U.S. has the largest prison population in the world is an accident? I think the sooner citizens wake up and realize that these assholes DO NOT have our best interests in mind, the better.
Do you recall the Obama administration promising to take a laissez faire attitude toward pot in general? Do you recall the 5 years that followed where the DEA and DoJ proved just how full of shit he was? And now you're excited that Holder has once again promised what Obama promised before he became president? With expectations so low, how could one possibly ever be disappointed?
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)increase in the trafficking of drugs.
or maybe it's not unintended.
Wounded Bear
(58,440 posts)They're the real drivers of the whole clusterfuck that is our national drug policy.
We need to start nationalizing the prisons again and get them out of the hands of the for profit assholes running it now.
orpupilofnature57
(15,472 posts)chervilant
(8,267 posts)"Is this another distraction ploy?"
The United States has the most people in prison by far of any country in the world. With 5 percent of the worlds population, we have 25 percent of the worlds prisoners 2.3 million criminals. China with a population 4 times our size is second with 1.6 million people in prison.
The penal system du jour -- another ginormous corporate ruse to profit from the misfortunes of the plebes, and Holder intends to change their profit margin? How likely is this, really?
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Though this is good proof that nothing is ever good enough to a certain contingent.
morningfog
(18,115 posts)It may end up being a step in the right direction, possibly, maybe, sometime in the future, but that is not good enough.
chervilant
(8,267 posts)Who exactly comprises this 'certain contingent' to which you refer?
Let me guess, those of us who are skeptical about Holder's initiative? Why, pray tell, is my concern grounds for lumping me into a 'certain contingent'?
chervilant
(8,267 posts)Despite having "long been condemned by usage commentators as incorrect or sloppy", some authorities consider the use of "begs the question" as a way of saying "raises the question" or "evades the question" to be no longer mistaken because it has attained such wide usage.
I tell my students that language is a rich and enriching tool; alive and evolving throughout our history as a sentient species. I have my own set of made-up words, and repurposed words and phrases. I am clear about this with those who know me, or hear me lecture. I am glad that you chose to point out the controversy about "begs the question." Like "ain't" and "irregardless" and a plethora of other words (and phrases), it's an interesting example of our ever-changing language.
frylock
(34,825 posts)while another contingent is perfectly happy listening to the pretty words.
Lee-Lee
(6,324 posts)Because, in 99% of cases, minor possession or distribution charges are state/local charges, not Federal.
About the only time a minor drug charge like simple possession ends up in Federal court is if it took place on Federal land- like if the Park Ranger catches you in the National Park smoking a joint.
Even in cases where Federal charges could be filed for a minor case when local authorities refer it the US Attorneys have zero interest- they only want big cases that help their careers.
So if it goes down like I expect, look for lots of talk, but very little real impact in the real world. And even less impact to minority populations.
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)Again and again and again and again.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3359463
JVS
(61,935 posts)ProSense
(116,464 posts)http://prospect.org/article/holder-urges-retroactivity-fair-sentencing-act
NYT editorial: Sentencing Reform Starts to Pay Off
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023393947
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)to post that first article from 2011, when you know very well that Obama's justice department has reversed position entirely:
Holder Moves to Overturn Ruling That Would Apply Fair Sentencing Act Retroactively
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/trial-obama-admins-greatest-shame?page=0%2C1
Strangely, the Obama administration initially urged in federal courts across the country that the old discriminatory penalties should still be applied to those arrested but not yet sentenced at the time the law was passed. However, the administration reversed course after significant criticism, and the US supreme court held last year that the new, more "fair" sentences must be applied to those not yet sentenced.
But that case did not decide the fate of any of the thousands of people already sitting in prison because of what all agree is an unfair law. For those people sentenced, in some cases, just days or weeks before the Fair Sentencing Act was signed our society's acknowledgment that they remain in prison for no good reason may not help them at all because the government did not care to reduce their penalties retroactively when it declared them unjust.
For several years, federal judges have done nothing to remedy this injustice; one famously concluded that the prisoners sentenced under the old law had simply "lost on a temporal roll of the cosmic dice". So, there are American citizens serving tens of thousands of years in prison because, according to all three branches of government, it's just their tough luck?
Apparently so, until two months ago. On 17 May 2013, the US court of appeals for the sixth circuit held that the new, "fair" sentences must be applied to all those previously sentenced under laws that everyone acknowledges were discriminatory. The two-judge majority opinion wrote forcefully (pdf) and with unusual candor about the history of unequal treatment under the old laws. The judges ordered that those sentenced under those laws were entitled to ask federal judges to reduce their sentences.
The Justice Department is now seeking to overturn that decision which will be devastating news to many thousands like my original crack cocaine client. The Obama administration would surely condemn an oppressive foreign dictator's regime for the singular cruelty of declaring to its population that thousands of its citizens must continue to sit in prison for no good reason. The fact that few have even heard of the stunning position taken by President Obama is a sad reflection on how incurious mainstream US public opinion is about what underpins our mass incarceration society.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)What you posted has nothing to do with the defined parameters of the Fair Sentencing Act, which is what the NYT editorial (http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023393947) is about.
The FSA made the rule retroactive to a certain period. The court decision you posted states that it should be retroactive to all cases.
http://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/will-supreme-court-render-fair-sentencing-act-less-fair
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/06/22/503881/supreme-court-expands-impact-of-fair-sentencing-act/
woo me with science
(32,139 posts)under law that they themselves have stated is unfair. You are deliberately avoiding the point and the Justice Department's own, current actions.
Let me repeat that: The US is appealing the decision for retroactive correction of unfair sentencing. That is the difference between pretty rhetoric and actions.
http://njeja.org/2013/07/24/u-s-vs-blewett-is-the-obama-justice-departments-greatest-shame/
Sixth Circuit Crack Retroactivity Ruling Appealed
http://www.famm.org/newsandinformation/PressReleases/SixthCircuitCrackRetroactivityRulingAppealed.aspx
Holder Moves To Overturn Ruling That Would Apply Fair Sentencing Act Retroactively
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023334909
You really, really ought to be ashamed. I will not engage with you further on this thread out of principle. It is important, however, to point out the blatant dishonesty of the relentless administration spin.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)you're posting this when the OP indicates that Holder is moving toward more reforms, and after responding to the OP with this: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023431740#post37
tridim
(45,358 posts)Feel free to show us the Obama approved pipeline that only exists in your woo-head.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)tridim
(45,358 posts)Tell me something I don't know.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Perhaps a bit excessive, but quite right in principle, the public has no right to decide for itself about such things, that's up to The Owners.
tridim
(45,358 posts)Everything Holder has said publicly indicates that he thinks the drug war is inherently flawed.
Tippy
(4,610 posts)Something needs to be done CCA will own the USA
MADem
(135,425 posts)in place already.....
Sanjay -- who almost was the Surgeon General, if we remember -- has weighed in on the topic.
It's only a matter of time.
randome
(34,845 posts)[hr][font color="blue"][center]You should never stop having childhood dreams.[/center][/font][hr]