Sanity coming from both sides of the fence – I like it! :horns up

http://www.northjersey.com/news/congressional-lawmakers-call-for-reducing-minimum-federal-sentences-for-non-violent-drug-offenders-1.1270459

Touting American ideals and the government’s bottom line, an array of liberals and conservatives including Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ted Cruz of Texas called Thursday for reducing minimum federal sentences for many non-violent drug offenders.

Cruz, a leader of the Tea Party movement widely seen as preparing a run for the Republican presidential nomination, said at a news conference in the Capitol that if someone commits a violent crime or deals drugs to children, the system “should come down on them like a ton of bricks.

“At the same time, we need to recognize that young people make mistakes,” Cruz said. “And we should not live in a world of Les Miserables, where a young man finds his entire future taken away by excessive mandatory minimums.”

Booker, a Democrat and former mayor of Newark, said tackling the “profound over-incarceration of Americans” was one of his top goals.

He and others at the news conference announcing the introduction of the “Smarter Sentencing Act” said it was wrong that the United States has more people in prison than any other country in the world.

“There is great promise in this bill, there is great hope in this bill,” Booker said, arguing it would help people live more successful lives and was fiscally responsible. The Congressional Budget Office estimated a version introduced last year would save $4 billion in prison and other costs, but add $1 billion in spending for social services for people who would be released.

The Smarter Sentencing Act would reduce the minimum penalty for many drug crimes, and make more offenders eligible for a “safety valve” that allows judges to order a sentence below the existing minimum.

The bill also builds on a 2010 law that eliminated the disparity between crack and powder cocaine penalties by making inmates sentenced under the earlier law eligible to seek reductions.

Sponsored by Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, it is co-sponsored by Booker, Cruz, Kentucky Republican Rand Paul and others, and has a corresponding bill in the House.

The bill faces challenges, however, including the opposition Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Grassley said last year that the bill “should never see the light of day,” and took to the Senate floor ahead of Thursday’s news conference to argue there were many “myths” surrounding the bill.

He said that statistics for 2013 showed there were 2,332 drug possession cases in the federal prison system, which has more than 200,000 inmates. Almost 94 percent involved marijuana and more than 86 percent were noncitizens, Grassley said, with the average case involving 48 pounds of drugs.

Supporters of the bill, however, say the prison system continues to grow. It now comprises one-quarter of the Justice Department’s budget and that growth has begun to force cuts to other programs.

“Ask the average American,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., another cosponsor, “do you want to take more and more money away from real law enforcement that might protect you and use it to lock up people that pose no threat to you?”

Still some assholes out there, but it’s encouraging that this is even on the table!

:weedspin :weedspin :weedspin