Just a few days following Eric Holder’s speech to the American Bar Association about reassessing the efficacy of the “war on drugs,” the U.S. Sentencing Commission has voted unanimously to begin a sweeping review of federal minimum sentencing guidelines.
The Commission met in Washington to rework its “drug quantity table” which is used to determine sentencing guidelines for dozens of drug related offences. Congress has the authority to block any of these changes, but they will be coming at a time of increased pressure to reign in the costs of the federal prison system and increased resentment towards the so called “war on drugs.” There have already been a number of past and current legislators who have come out publicly in favor of Holder’s proposals.
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The commissioners are going even further than Holder suggested and has made drug mandatory minimum reforms it’s top priority, reasoning that growing concerns over the costs of the U.S. prison system will insure bipartisan political support.
“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,” Judge Patti Saris, Chair of the Commission, said in a news release issued by the Sentencing Commission.
It certainly appears that Holder’s speech will mark a significant turning point in the “war on drugs.”
