New hope for drug convicts
WASHINGTON - Tens of thousands of federal inmates serving time for drug crimes would be eligible for early release under a proposal being considered Friday that would dramatically reduce the nation's prison population over time.
The change is part of a broader rethinking of criminal justice policy that the Justice Department, under Attorney General Eric Holder, has embraced. With an eye toward addressing sentencing disparities rooted in the 1980s-era fight against crack cocaine, the Justice Department has issued new clemency criteria designed to encourage thousands of additional inmates to seek clemency.
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Wasn't it Stedman, who suggested that critics of the Obama administration are motivated by race and referred to America as a "nation of cowards" on race issues?
Wasn't it Stedman, who refused to prosecute the Black Panthers for voter intimidation? Reverse the situation, the KKK intimidated Blacks, he wouldn't have done anything then either…right?
If con's are doing time for wire fraud, insider trading, or money laundering, they can forget about receiving their freedom from Stedman. He's only interested in the 51,000 doing time for drugs. I wonder what is motivation is?
Maybe the same as this:
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By
Eric Tucker, Associated Press
Posted: Sunday, July 20, 2014, 3:01 AM
WASHINGTON - Tens of thousands of federal inmates serving time for drug crimes would be eligible for early release under a proposal being considered Friday that would dramatically reduce the nation's prison population over time.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission, which earlier this year voted to substantially lower recommended sentences for drug-dealing felons, was to vote on whether to retroactively apply that change to prisoners now behind bars.
More than 51,000 inmates would be affected if the commission decides to make the proposal fully retroactive. The commission, an independent panel that sets sentencing policy, has said that sentences would be cut by an average of 23 months and that the releases would start within the year and be phased in over time.
Advocates of the early-release plan say it would cut prison costs - nearly one-half of the federal prison population is locked up for drug crimes - and scale back some of the harsh sentences imposed during the country's war on drugs.
The change is part of a broader rethinking of criminal justice policy that the Justice Department, under Attorney General Eric Holder, has embraced. With an eye toward addressing sentencing disparities rooted in the 1980s-era fight against crack cocaine, the Justice Department has issued new clemency criteria designed to encourage thousands of additional inmates to seek clemency.
Last year, Holder directed federal prosecutors to shy away from seeking mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders.
Though sentencing guidelines are advisory rather than mandatory, judges still rely heavily on them in deciding on prison sentences. The guidelines recommend sentences that factor in the types and quantities of the drugs
The commission in April voted to lower recommended sentences across all drug types, meaning, for instance, that a cocaine package of a given size would now be linked to a shorter range of punishment than before.
That sentencing guideline change - along with the retroactivity - would take effect in November unless Congress intervenes before then, which advocates consider unlikely.
The Sentencing Commission has previously taken aim at guideline ranges, agreeing in 2011 to retroactively change the crack cocaine sentencing scheme for thousands of inmates.
Prisoner advocacy groups have lined up behind the proposal. Prosecutors, including some within the Justice Department, have expressed concern, and federal judges have offered mixed views.
"Even though retroactivity and individualized assessment for all eligible persons is time intensive and administratively burdensome, it is the right thing to do so that we can again ensure that our criminal justice system is fair to all concerned," U.S District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of Rhode Island wrote in a letter to the commission.
A group of federal prosecutors, the National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys, said the move would lead to higher crime and give defendants little incentive to accept plea deals.
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Currently Stedman is held in Contempt of Congress for a sting of lies so long I've lost lost count. But his most infamous achievement is this.
Articles of impeachment:
On November 14, 2013, Representative Pete Olson (R -TX), along with 19 Republicans, introduced an Articles of Impeachment resolution against Holder for his role in Operation Fast and Furious and other scandals of President Barack Obama’s administration. As of June 2014, there are 26 co-sponsors to the bill.
(Don't hold your breath)
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