Here’s how much Americans hate mandatory minimum sentences

[SteamboatBillJr]

Here’s how much Americans hate mandatory minimum sentences
By Christopher Ingraham October 1 Follow @_cingraham

(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)

Leading Senators appear to have reached agreement on a criminal justice reform package that will likely include some changes to how mandatory minimum sentences are applied to drug offenders.

But even if it gets passed, the changes will not completely eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders. And that's likely to be a disappointment to the overwhelming majority of Americans -- 77 percent -- who say that "mandatory minimum prison sentences for non-violent drug offenders should be eliminated so that judges can make sentencing decisions on a case-by-case basis."

These numbers come from a November 2014 Public Religion Research Institute Survey. And as with asset forfeiture reform, they're noteworthy for the wide amount of agreement across racial and political groups. Even 69 percent of those who identify with the Tea Party say that mandatory minimums for non-violent drug offenders should be abolished, making Tea Partiers slightly more supportive of this realm of criminal justice reform than Republicans as a whole.

The Senate legislation is notable for having strong bipartisan support, including from Senator Chuck Grassley, chair of the Judiciary Committee and a long-time skeptic of criminal justice reform efforts.

In exchange for the support of Grassley and others like him, the reforms aren't as far-reaching as many advocates had hoped. But they're at least a step in the right direction to roll back some of the least-sensible excesses of the drug war, which introduced minimum sentencing provisions that in some cases led to decades or life behind bars for people convicted of minor drug possession offenses.

Christopher Ingraham writes about politics, drug policy and all things data. He previously worked at the Brookings Institution and the Pew Research Center.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...h-americans-hate-mandatory-minimum-sentences/

 

[manboychef]

latest news is that republicans are trying to slip in an amendment to the bill that helps white collar criminals escape jailtime...pretty much a "poison pill" to kill this bill.

 

[cj]

latest news is that republicans are trying to slip in an amendment to the bill that helps white collar criminals escape jailtime...pretty much a "poison pill" to kill this bill.

What a bunch of dickheads. Screw them pass it anyway I am for less people in prison period.

 

[SteamboatBillJr]

latest news is that republicans are trying to slip in an amendment to the bill that helps white collar criminals escape jailtime...pretty much a "poison pill" to kill this bill.

Look who's a democrat.

 

[manboychef]

I am a moderate. I feel that both parties have something to offer. I just can't stand the constant infighting, and fighting across the aisle. Money gets spent and nothing gets done. I cannot stand the hard right conservatives, and the hard left liberals. These are the folks not willing to make compromises. Our country is founded on compromises...why is it so different today?

These hard right and hard left people get the press because they are so outspoken. Also their constituents tend to be protesting quite a bit more....where is the moderates protesting holding signs up that say "We need a Fiscally responsible budget that benefits all citizens equally", or "lets be reasonable and shake hands rather than shake fists"

I also think we need to take money back out of politics...money is free speech? Yeah right....want to start our own Super PAC steamboat?

 

[Jabberwocky]

^Yea, about taking money out of politics, well, that won't happen while corporations have the same rights (but not the same obligations/duties that go with those right) as you and I... but I do hear ya

 

[ro4eva]

"[Let's] Make America Great Again." - Ronald Reagen's Donald Trump's [shamelessly ripped off] campaign slogan.

Trump really cracks me up, but at the same time, he's got a point about [allegedly] wanting to make 'The Land of the Free' great once again. The reality is that, over the past few decades, the U.S.A. establishment has slowly but surely turned the nation into a stagnant, corrupted, hypocritical, fundamentally contradicted burden to behold for the generations to follow. And as it stands, that makes it far from the best country on earth [despite the many politicians who continue to insist it is], but it sure as hell has the potential to be number one, and I think the following changes [among others, I'm sure] at the federal level would greatly increase its chances:

- Reinstating Glass-Steagall
- taking money out of politics
- address gun show background check loophole
- free all non-violent prisoners who are doing time for possession + clear corresponding criminal records
- end the criminalization of Cannabis and other 'street drugs'
- legalize, regulate, and tax certain 'street drugs'
- make the 'hard' drugs such as Diacetylmorphine (Heroin) available for maintenance treatment in a similar manner to Methadone (Methadose) and Buprenorphine (Subutex, Suboxone)
- adopt and implement a harm reduction based policy; do away with unrealistic expectations such as abstinence only
- hand over the responsibility and handling of everything related to mind altering substances (e.g. health warnings) to the FDA
- purge anything and everything to do with the DEA
- give it all a fighting chance before panicking prematurely and running to the Washington Post with some sensational story.

Liberty and the pursuit of happiness cannot co-exist in the same nation which jails 25% of the world's prison population (a huge chunk of which is due to the war on drugs), and the same government that threatens its citizens with the removal of their liberty solely for being in possession of parts of a plant. And let's not delude ourselves further into denial regarding this despicable treatment of a minority group of [mostly non-violent] individuals who - for reasons partly related to genetic diversity as well as varying personal tastes and preferences - have been treated like scapegoats and victimized by their government for far too long, and for no good reason.

 

[manboychef]

^^^seconded. Also we need to have a flat tax (everyone including corporations pay the same, if you want to give to charity, it is not a writeoff, you give because you want to). This will fund all of our ailing public programs, like food stamps, and VA hospitals.

Secondly no career politicians. You shouldn't draw a paycheck in service to your country. You do it because you like america and its peoples. If you are caught being lobbied too (which is akin to being bribed) by a special interest group, you are charged with accepting bribes and treason.

Make a living wage for everyone. A wise man once said "what is the point of having a job if you can't live on what you make". Unfortunately in this country we have growing number of working poor. Why are we cutting breaks for so called job creators when the jobs they create are not worth anything?

okay i could go on for a long time, but I will put my soapbox away. Hey at least canada got trudeau

 

[Jabberwocky]

scapegoats was the key word

 

[cj]

^Yea, about taking money out of politics, well, that won't happen while corporations have the same rights (but not the same obligations/duties that go with those right) as you and I... but I do hear ya

I truly believe the Citizens United ruling was a dagger through the heart of our Republic.

 

[SteamboatBillJr]

want to start our own Super PAC steamboat?

Nah, my approach is empower the disenfranchised. The powerful minority were favored with the 20th centuries social solutions. If I could reduce intellectual disparity between the bottom 50% and top 5% of people in our society, then the worst of these unjust social policies should parish.