Report: Holder Tells DEA Chief to Get in Line

[neversickanymore]

I think we may have missed this one?

Report: Holder Tells DEA Chief to Get in Line
MAY 16, 2014 • BY MICHAEL WARREN

The head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration was called in to speak with Attorney General Eric Holder and told to get in line with the Obama administration's policy on lessening sentencing for drug offenders, according to a report from the Huffington Post.

DEA chief Michele Leonhart has taken public stands in recent months against the administration's rhetoric on marijuana legalization as well as efforts by the White House and the Justice Department to ease punshiments for those covicted of federal drug crimes. HuffPo's Ryan Reilly and Ryan Grim report that Leonhart was "called in" by Holder for a "one [on] one chat about her recent insubordination." Leonhart seems to have gotten the message. Here more from their story:

Leonhart was responding to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who asked about the importance of mandatory minimums. Some law enforcement groups oppose the Smarter Sentencing Act, a bipartisan bill that would roll back the length of certain mandatory minimum prison terms. Leonhart emphasized the importance of mandatory minimums, leaving the impression she opposed changes to the current sentencing structure, which gives federal prosecutors huge leverage over defendants.

Justice Department concerns about Leonhart were heightened when, after her testimony, a DEA spokeswoman would not say whether Leonhart endorsed changes mandatory minimums, telling The Huffington Post that the DEA administrator's testimony would "have to speak for itself."

The concerns led to a conversation between Holder and Leonhart, according to a person familiar with the discussion. Leonhart told her boss there had been a misunderstanding.

The DEA sent The Huffington Post a follow-up statement a week after the first, expressing Leonhart's public support for reforms made by Holder that rolled back the deployment of harsh mandatory minimum sentences against certain drug offenders.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/report-holder-tells-dea-chief-get-line_792883.html

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The DEA: four decades of impending and rejecting science

 

[CLICKHEREx]

I suspect that Obama may have had a word in Holder's ear, but it's about time that power crazed bitch was put back in her box.

 

[S.J.B.]

Beautiful.

 

[ro4eva]

Reading this honestly gave me a pleasant body high.

YES!!!

Take that you oppressive two-faced bitch!

/rant

Edit - BTW, that PDF file about the DEA which you linked neversickanymore is priceless IMO, so thank you very much for that.

 

[cj]

I have been waiting for this. Bout time. And you know someone in the administration was pissed otherwise it would not have leaked out.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Bent her over a knee for a spanking.

Well done.

 

[...]

I am not buying any of this. The sources are not reliable.

 

[slimvictor]

If this is true, it is a dream come true (or the beginning of one).

 

[Felonious Monk]

Fire that bitch. Fucking fascist deserves nothing better than eternity in some make-believe fire and brimstone hellfire.

She has done nothing in her entire life to earn her anything but life in prison for crimes against humanity. Her and her cronies have sent hundreds of thousands of poor minorities to prison under the New Jim Crow--they deserve nothing better than to be tried by a jury of falsely convicted consciousness expanders--then sent to prison to be treated the same as the human beings they sent to die under despicable conditions.

 

[SteeleyJ]

That is awesome..... + respect to Holder for standing his ground against DEA.

 

[JackARoe]

President Obama and Eric Holder could make history if they wanted to by stopping the oppression of US citizens that utilize plants and substances of their choosing. This is big. At least in the notion of freeing people. Right now I am not sure, but it does seem since President Obama has only limited time left maybe he will pull some power moves towards more freedom. One can only hope. The oppression has to stop. It is long overdue. I do not see how anyone can watch the DEA pull some of the moves they do. Surely Obama knows how bad and outdated locking up people for using plants or substances is. And I can only hope he/they are moved to take action against the oppression.

Hey, one can hope eh? There has to be some humanness and compassion towards it's own people. I wonder what the general feeling was when slavery was abolished. People involved in that had to be happy and relieved about that. Although this is smaller on the scale of oppression, it still is oppression. And to have the head of this bureau going against the tide is unacceptable. We are ready for change and it is happening.

And for people who think things will stay the same, I never thought I would see the day that you could walk into a store and by cannabis like you can in two states. I am still somewhat in shock.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Not only do I like your handle Felonious Monk, but it's also always nice to see a fan of Michelle Alexander. Such a good book

 

[Felonious Monk]

Not only do I like your handle Felonious Monk, but it's also always nice to see a fan of Michelle Alexander. Such a good book

I did my senior thesis in college on the portrayal of blacks in media, as it relates to racism/drugs, and used that book a lot. I really agree with her premise too (we've all lived it to some extent), it's just too compelling to ignore--even if the system wasn't consciously set up for social control of minorities or "undesirables," it played out that way too well.