Florida Lawmakers Impose Harsh New Mandatory Minimums for Fentanyl
The Sunshine State ratchets up the drug war.
Mandatory Minimums
Jeff Sessions: Using Marijuana Is 'Only Slightly Less Awful' Than Heroin
Jeff Sessions continues to insist that the only America he wants to live in is one where no one is legally permitted to use substances he doesn't like.
The Unjust, Irrational, and Unconstitutional Consequences of Pedophilia Panic
The fear and disgust triggered by this subject help explain why laws dealing with sex offenses involving minors frequently lead to bizarre results.
Teen Girl Sent Teen Boy 5 Inappropriate Pictures. He Faced Lifetime Registry as a 'Violent Sex Offender' or 350 Years in Jail.
Welcome to the world of teens, computers, and prosecutors who want to look tough on sex offenders.
President Obama Thinks He Did a Great Job With Criminal Justice Reform, But He Should Have Done More
Obama is in full legacy-preservation mode in article for Harvard Law Review.
Commuted Sentence Shows Injustice of Crack Penalties and 'Three Strikes' Provision
Donald Graham got one year for each of the two drug offenses he committed as a teenager, then life at 30.
Obama Administration Approaches 1,000 Commutations
Today, 72 federal drug war prisoners get sentences reduced.
Obama Commutes Sentences of 98 Drug Offenders, Including 42 Lifers
He could still surpass Nixon in percentage of petitions granted.
Drug Sentences Will Never Be Fair
Commutations and reforms can only ameliorate the inherent injustice of prohibition.
Obama Shortens 102 Sentences, Including 35 Life Terms for Nonviolent Drug Offenses
The president has granted 774 commutations so far, 97 percent of them in the second half of his second term.
Watch the Lamest Arguments Against Criminal Justice Reform
Courtesy of the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys
Obama Commutes Sentences of 111 More Federal Inmates
Among them is Timothy Tyler, a gentle Deadhead who got life in prison for selling LSD.
Watch a Former Federal Inmate Respond to Trump's Demagoguery on Commutations
Weldon Angelos was released early from a 55-year mandatory minimum sentence for a first-time drug offense. Trump said "bad dudes" like him shouldn't be freed.
Mandatory Minimums Aren't the Answer to Sexual Assault
We can't let one bad judgement tempt us signal feminism by sacrificing justice.
Good Thing John Hinckley Jr. Only Shot the President. If He Sold Drugs, He Might Still Be Locked Up.
Attempted murder? 35 years in a hospital. Nonviolent drug charges? Life in prison.
State and Local Spending On Prisons Has Grown Three Times as Fast as Spending on Schools, Says New Report
Young black males without a high school diploma are more likely to be incarcerated than employed.
Federal Criminal Justice Reform May Fail, and Everybody's Blaming Everybody Else
Sorry prisoners-you'll have to wait for the finger-pointing to stop.
Opioid Panic Infects Defense Spending Bill
New Hampshire senator wants to increase federal penalties.
White House Announces 42 New Commutations
Total for administration reaches 348, but hundreds more may still qualify.
Maryland Reforms Asset Forfeiture, Mandatory Minimums
Tighter rules on seizure and looser rules on sentences for nonviolent crimes.
Here's What to Expect from the Latest Attempt at Federal Sentencing Reform
Bipartisan bill was amended in April. Who would be affected?
Obama Announces New Round of Commutations
The deadline is rapidly approaching for federal prisoners to request mercy.
California Moves to End Mandatory Jail Time for Prostitution
A good move backed by bad reasoning
Prince's Death Being Used to Sell Painkiller Panic
Is there any way to stop the abuse of the word 'epidemic'?
Non-Violent Drug Offenders Get Life +185 Years
Their stories begin differently but end in the same place.
Life + 185 Years: Three Stories of Incarceration
Three people convicted of non-violent drug crimes. Their stories are the stuff of nightmares.
Supreme Court Makes Important Mandatory Minimum Ruling Retroactive
Some in federal prison may see sentence reductions.
76-Year-Old Asks SCOTUS to Overturn Life Sentence for 37 Pot Plants
Lee Carroll Brooker, a victim of Alabama's habitual offender law, argues that his punishment violates the Eighth Amendment.
Bill Clinton's Mendacious Defense of the 1994 Crime Bill
The former president says Republicans made him support longer sentences, which were a necessary response to 13-year-old murderers "hopped up on crack."
Almost Everybody Wants Federal Sentencing Reform, So Why Hasn't It Happened?
Election year posturing and new Supreme Court nominee fight push it down the agenda.
Life in Prison for Stealing Candy Bars in New Orleans?
Even the judge thinks it's "over the top," but Louisiana's "habitual-offender" law takes away his discretion.
Eric Holder's Views on Sentencing Evolved More Slowly Than He Remembers
The former attorney general supported mandatory minimums for drug offenses as a federal prosecutor in the 1990s.
On Criminal Justice Reform, Clinton Is Sanders Lite
Clinton, who was for mass incarceration before she was against it, fills in some blanks in her agenda.
Judge Who Sentenced Small-Time Pot Dealer to 55 Years Again Urges Clemency
If Obama means what he says about unjust punishment, he will free Weldon Angelos.
The Fiction That Drug Trafficking Is 'Inherently Violent' Could Harm Sentencing Reform
Watered down improvements to federal mandatory minimums may get watered down further.
Ted Cruz and Chuck Grassley Switch Places on Sentencing Reform
Why is Cruz, a critic of disproportionate penalties, trying to sink the bill with the best chance of passing?
Two Ranchers, Two Fires, Too Long Behind Bars
The resentencing of Dwight and Steven Hammond illustrates the injustices wrought by mandatory minimums.
Oregon Rancher Protest Highlights the Injustice of Mandatory Minimums
The Hammond case illustrates how federal law forces judges to impose sentences they consider grossly disproportionate.
Whatever's Going on in Oregon, It's Not Terrorism
Terrorism is the use of violence against noncombatants for a political purpose. That's not what's happening here.
How Making a Murderer Helps Explain Liberals' Reaction to the Oregon Standoff
We all deserve fair treatment under the law, and we all lose when people let aesthetic and ideological differences obscure that basic truth.
The Absurdly Harsh Penalties That Sparked the Oregon Rancher Protest
A federal judge rejected mandatory minimums for Dwight and Steven Hammond as unconstitutional; an appeals court disagreed.
Obama Frees Sharanda Jones and 94 Other Prisoners Serving Draconian Sentences
Obama's commutation record looks good in absolute numbers but paltry as a percentage of petitions.
6,000 Felons Released From Prison. Why You Shouldn't Worry.
Low-level, non-violent drug offenders with no history of violence.
How the "Black Silent Majority" Kicked the Drug War into High Gear
Harlem activists called for federal troops to "clean up" the streets, demanded life sentences for drug dealers.
Indiana AG Seeks Mandatory Jail Time for Johns
"Jail time should be understood" for those caught soliciting prostitution says Indiana AG Greg Zoeller.
