The US Sentencing Commission has voted unanimously to begin a sweeping
review of federal sentences for drug dealers in a move that could herald
long-awaited reductions in America’s prison population.
Just days after attorney general Eric Holder called for a new approach to
the so-called “war on drugs”, the commission met in Washington to agree a
new policy priority that potentially goes far further than the Department
of Justice can in lowering sentences.
As anticipated, the independent government agency, which issues sentencing
guidelines to federal judges, will now spend the next few weeks reviewing
its “drug quantity table” – the grid that determines prison lengths for
dozens of different categories of offence – before publishing new
recommendations in January.
A reduction in sentencing guidelines could still be blocked by Congress,
but Holder’s speech on Monday has coincided with a new mood of reform in
Washington that reverses decades of political pressure to increase
penalties for drug dealers. His comments were welcomed by Senate judiciary
committee chair Patrick Leahy and leading Republicans such as senator Rand
Paul.
Currently the guidelines in the commission’s drug quantity table can result
in first-time offenders facing sentences of 19 to 24 years, with no parole,
for possession of the maximum quantities of heroin, crack or
methamphetamine. Even dealers caught with 100g of cocaine can face between
27 and 33 months, according to the table.
A number of specific offences are also subject to mandatory minimum
sentences prescribed by Congress, although Holder instructed US prosecutors
on Monday to begin circumventing such automatic terms by changing the way
they bring charges.
The seven commissioners who voted on the sentencing panel, including five
senior judges, are now thought likely to go much further than this by
formulating across-the-board changes to the recommended sentences.
Speaking afterwards, Dabney Friedrich, a former associate counsel in the
Bush White House who sits on the commission, told the Guardian she thought
that pressure in Congress to control the cost of the US prison system would
be a key factor in ensuring political support for such a move.
The Department of Justice also issued a supportive statement on Thursday,
which welcomed the commission’s progress.
“As the attorney general expressed earlier this week, we think there is
much to be done to improve federal sentencing and corrections,” said DOJ
official Jonathan Wroblewski. “Moreover, we think the US Sentencing
Commission has a very big role to play in shaping that reform.”
In a statement issued after its meeting, the commission noted that drug
offenders account for nearly half of all federal inmates, and that “an
adjustment to the drug quantity tables in the sentencing guidelines could
have a significant impact on sentence lengths and prison populations.”
“With a growing crisis in federal prison populations and budgets, it is
timely and important for us to examine mandatory minimum penalties and drug
sentences, which contribute significantly to the federal prison
population,” added Judge Patti Saris, chair of the commission.
“The Commission is looking forward to a serious and thoughtful
reconsideration of some of the sentencing guidelines which most strongly
impact the federal criminal justice system,” she said. “I am glad that
members of Congress from both parties and the Attorney General are
engaged in similar efforts.”
The Commission also pledged to work with Congress to reduce the “severity
and scope of mandatory minimum penalties and consider expanding the ‘safety
valve’ statute which exempts certain low-level non-violent
offenders from mandatory minimum penalties”. It will pass its final
amendments to Congress in May.
Political reaction to the recent sentencing developments has been broadly
positive. Senator Leahy said was pleased at Holder’s call for a review of
mandatory minimum sentences.
Although he believes long sentences are appropriate in some cases, but the
veteran Democrat said it believes judges should be given more flexibility
rather than relying on mandatory requirements.
Others have expressed concern however at the new mood sweeping Washington.
William Otis, a former federal prosecutor at Georgetown University, said
stiffer sentences in recent decades had contributed to lower crime rates.
“Two generations ago, in the 1960s and 1970s, our country had the wholly
discretionary sentencing system Holder admires. For our trouble, we got a
national crime wave,” he wrote in a USA Today op-ed.
“We have every right to instruct judges that some offenses are just too
awful to allow an overly sympathetic jurist to burst through a
congressionally established floor.”