An Amnesty for Prisoners of the War on Drugs

Atty. General Eric Holder's long overdue realization that "too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement reason" was an important step toward a national recognition that our decades long war on drugs has been ineffective, expensive, and cruel. As bipartisan support grows in Congress for overhauling U.S. drug laws, Holder has just ordered Federal prosecutors to remove any reference to quantities of illicit drugs that trigger mandatory minimums and to apply this provision to pending drug cases, where the defendant has not yet been sentenced.

But reducing the length and frequency of drug-related incarceration going forward for new cases, however welcome, doesn't do anything about the large population of drug users already stuck in our prisons. Many non violent drug offenders are still serving out long terms under the now discredited mandatory sentencing policies. Most of these are young minority men with children, drawn from our poorest urban communities.

To date little has been said about how we can both dispense justice and save money by reducing the size of this key population.

Read this article at The Huffington Post.