Attorney General Eric Holder took his case for overhauling the criminal justice system to an unlikely location on Wednesday — a closed-door conference of prosecutors, who were meeting at their national training center in Columbia, South Carolina.
According to a person familiar with Holder’s unpublicized remarks, Holder urged an audience of criminal division chiefs from U.S. Attorney’s offices to support Smart on Crime initiatives that would reduce some drug sentences and to open up the clemency process to hundreds of inmates with clean records in prison.
Earlier this year, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would cut some mandatory minimum penalties for non-violent drug offenders.
But in recent weeks at least three prominent groups have attacked the legislation, including nearly 30 former Justice Department officials who served under Republican administrations; longtime Sens. John Cornyn, R-TX, Charles Grassley, R-IA, and Jeff Sessions, R-AL; and even Holder’s own DEA administrator.
The attorney general addressed those concerns by pointing out that the bill, known as the Smarter Sentence Act, would leave in place tough mandatory minimum sentences for most drug traffickers, with add-ons for people who possess weapons, are repeat offenders, or those who are considered leaders of an ongoing criminal racket.
“These changes represent anything but a softening of our stance against crime and those who perpetrate it, or a relaxing of our unwavering commitment to combat the drug-fueled violence that plagues far too many communities,” Holder said, according to a law enforcement source in the audience.
“On the contrary: in all our activities, we remain committed to the robust enforcement of federal anti-drug laws, and to focusing federal resources on the most significant threats to our communities,” he said, according to the source.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has yet to schedule a floor vote on the bill.
People from across the country are looking for ways to help families of the 10 people killed at a King Soopers in Boulder on March 22.
We've compiled a list of area groups that are collecting contributions in the aftermath of the shooting.
In July, we published this statement in recognition of the work we needed to begin at CPR to confront issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in our newsroom and organization as a whole.
We know this work is urgent, and we are dedicated to doing it thoroughly and connecting it with our vision and mission to reach all and serve everyone in Colorado.
Here is an update on our progress over the last eight months.
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