Does the Attorney General plan major changes in sentencing?
I have been reading where Attorney Eric Holder has plan to announce major changes in the sentencing of certain drug-related crimes in an effort to reduce overcrowding in the nations prisons. Would this also apply to state inmates and habitual felons? Will this mean that their sentence would be reduced as well?
The overall message is intended to seep into the state system however Holder is the AG where his jurisdiction is federal. The state courts do not sentence under the federal mandatory minimum. The first category of crimes that will benefit are the first time non-violent offenders. Habitual and violent criminals will not get the same "benefit of the doubt". The sentencing restructure is aimed eliminating draconian sentences for minor drug offenses - where they have in the past been sentencing people 10 years for less than one ounce of cocaine - 20 years for crack cocaine. It's all changing.
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