Sessions’ new war on drugs the wrong approach
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ re-arming of the nation’s “war on drugs” isn’t just bad policy, it’s an assault on sensibility.
Recently Sessions ordered federal prosecutors to resume charging drug offenders with the most serious crimes possible, increasing the chances they’ll receive mandatory minimum sentences.
This tactic succeeded in boosting the number of nonviolent drug offenders in prison, from 50,000 in 1980 to about 400,000 today. During the Obama administration former Attorney General Eric Holder gave prosecutors more latitude to avoid charges that would trigger mandatory minimums.
Today conservatives are joining with liberals in recognizing that a combination of drug education, preventive programs, drug courts and rehab are vital alternatives to incarceration of low-level offenders. Building and staffing more prisons is a huge drain on the taxpayer — not to mention a waste of lives that might be resurrected through drug treatment.
New Jersey and Pennsylvania are among the states that have gotten that message, instituting treatment programs and well-publicized approaches to a painkiller/heroin epidemic. Last week Northampton County’s drug court congratulated several participants who were spared long jail terms, completed treatment and will have an opportunity to begin anew.
So why hasn’t that message found its way to the White House and the Justice Department? Sessions is a former U.S. attorney in Alabama who made his name not just endorsing, but effecting, harsh sentences. Those outcomes are justified for violent criminals and the worst recidivists — we’re not talking about backtracking on that.
The “throw-away-the-key” mentality also ensnares persons guilty of drug possession or minor transactions — often subjecting them to long jail terms without access to rehab. It’s no secret that drug prosecutions and mandatory-minimums target minority populations disproportionately.
It’s heartening to see a bipartisan group of senators pushing back against the attorney general. Last week Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and others introduced the Justice Safety Valve Act, to give federal judges discretion to impose lesser sentences for nonviolent crimes. The bill has attracted a wide range of support, from the Koch brothers to the American Civil Liberties Union.
“We should be treating our nation’s drug epidemic for what it is – a public health crisis, not an excuse to send people to prison and turn a mistake into a tragedy,” Paul wrote in an op-ed for CNN. “And make no mistake, the lives of many drug offenders are ruined the day they receive that long sentence the attorney general wants them to have.”
Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., tweeted his support: “DOJ should focus on prosecuting violent criminals, not nonviolent drug offenders. We must reform our criminal justice system.” Sen. Cory Booker, DN.J., also has spoken up for sentencing reform.
Doubling-down on Draconian policies that do little to deter drug use is itself a sign of intoxication — to a “war” that victimizes Americans as much as it helps them. Let this Senate bill set the stage for a practical, multi-dimensional approach to increasing drug use in the U.S. — from incremental acceptance of marijuana to countering an opioid crisis that is destroying lives and feeding related crime. The first step is breaking an addiction to locking up drug users and building more prisons.