Increasingly, police, prosecutors, and correctional officials are supporting mandatory minimum sentencing reform. Police and prosecutors recognize that using mandatory minimum prison sentences for nonviolent offenders drains limited funds from law enforcement budgets. Correctional officials are advocating for reform because mandatory minimum sentences have produced dangerously overcrowded prisons that undermine rehabilitation. Law enforcement are supportive not only of reforming mandatory minimum sentences, but also of using smarter, more cost-effective probation, treatment, and rehabilitative sentencing options that reduce crime and keep the public safe.
Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration
Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates: Why We Don’t Need Mandatory Minimums to Get Guilty Pleas (speech, July 22, 2015)
American Correctional Association’s Resolution Supporting Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Reform
America Correctional Association’s Public Correctional Policy on Sentencing
Council of Prison Locals, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, Statement to U.S. House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations, supporting federal mandatory minimum sentencing reform
Law Enforcement and Victim Support for the Smarter Sentencing Act (S. 1410/H.R. 3382, 113th Congress):
S. 1410 Potential Impact and Cost Savings
Summary of the Smarter Sentencing Act, S. 1410
Why Law Enforcement Support the Smarter Sentencing Act
Association of Prosecuting Attorneys
International Union of Police Associations, AFL-CIO
American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women
General Resources:
Factsheet: Alternatives to Incarceration in a Nutshell
How Federal Mandatory Minimums for Nonviolent Drug Offenders Make us Less Safe
Current Sentencing Reform Efforts in Florida and other states
Over the last year, the Florida Department of Corrections has made headlines for all the wrong reasons. In December 2014, Gov. Rick Scott decided to clean house, and named Julie Jones, formerly of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, as DOC secretary. Jones has a record… Read more »
(National Journal) — After a career sending people to prison, it took three years inside a federal penitentiary to change Bernie Kerik’s mind about the criminal justice system. “Not only did I not know,” he tells National Journal, “I didn’t know because I didn’t pay enough attention to it. My job as a police officer and police… Read more »
(AP) — The Justice Department on Thursday asked lawyers around the country to help some drug prisoners prepare petitions for clemency, a dramatic expansion of President Barack Obama’s action last month commuting the sentences of eight people he said were serving unduly harsh drug sentences. In remarks prepared for a speech to the New York… Read more »
