Sentencing

Policy

Why Prosecutors Love Mandatory Minimums

Seeking to shorten "draconian" sentences, the attorney general faces opposition from his underlings.

Jacob Sullum | 8.6.2014 7:00 AM

Policy

Eric Holder Says Mandatory Minimums Are Unnecessary As Well As Unjust

Jacob Sullum | 8.1.2014 12:41 PM

Policy

Judge Who Imposed a 57-Year Mandatory Minimum Sentence Gets It Reduced to 20

Jacob Sullum | 7.29.2014 7:10 PM

Policy

Paul Ryan's Poverty Plan: Good on Incarceration, Licensing, Perverse Incentives; Not So Good on Paternalism

What's worthwhile in the Wisconsin congressman's proposals, and what's not

Jesse Walker | 7.28.2014 10:55 AM

Politics

Paul Ryan Backs Sentencing Reform As a Way of 'Expanding Opportunity in America'

Jacob Sullum | 7.24.2014 12:44 PM

Death Penalty

Arizona Supreme Court Delays Man's Execution

To examine claim filed with court this morning

Reason Staff | 7.23.2014 1:46 PM

Policy

Vote to Apply Sentencing Change Retroactively Could Let Nearly Half of Federal Drug War Prisoners Go Free Early

Jacob Sullum | 7.18.2014 1:40 PM

Policy

Since When Do Libertarians Support Gun Control and Taxpayer-Funded Abortions?

Jacob Sullum | 7.16.2014 1:29 PM

Policy

Obama's 'Third Way' Looks a Lot Like the War on Drugs

Jacob Sullum | 7.9.2014 6:18 PM

Criminal Justice

Sens. Paul, Booker Team Up Again for Criminal Record Reform

Scott Shackford | 7.8.2014 12:15 PM

Policy

Rand Paul Wants to Restore Felons' Voting Rights. What About Their Gun Rights?

Jacob Sullum | 6.24.2014 5:50 PM

Politics

Tonight on The Independents: Eric Cantor Shocker, Woe in Afghanistan & Iraq, David Boaz on Sentencing Reform, Snowden Plea-Float, Police Militarization, Meet Libertarian 'Spoiler' Sean Haugh, Teacher Tenure Ruling, Plus After-Show*

Matt Welch | 6.10.2014 8:40 PM

Death Penalty

Louisiana Tries to Bring Back Electric Chair and Make Lethal Injection Drugs Secret, Luckily Fails at Both

Lauren Krisai | 6.3.2014 5:40 PM

Policy

Republicans Say Obama Has a Crappy Clemency Record—and They Want to Keep It That Way

Jacob Sullum | 6.3.2014 4:53 PM

Policy

U.S. Sentencing Commission Pinpoints Billions in Savings in Retroactive Mercy to Those in Prison for Mandatory Minimum Drug Crimes

Brian Doherty | 5.30.2014 7:23 PM

Policy

Recipe for a Life Sentence: Mix Two Kinds of Prohibitionist Idiocy

Mix hash brownies with two kinds of prohibitionist idiocy.

Jacob Sullum | 5.26.2014 1:30 PM

Policy

How to Make Hash Brownies (Into a Life Sentence)

Jacob Sullum | 5.23.2014 11:00 AM

Politics

Nick Gillespie on CNN's Erin Burnett Outfront, Talking Life Sentence for Hash Brownies

Nick Gillespie | 5.21.2014 4:47 PM

Policy

How You Can Get Life for Hash Brownies in Texas

Jacob Sullum | 5.20.2014 7:43 PM

Policy

The Deadhead Who Got Life for Mailing LSD—and Five Other Leading Candidates for Clemency

Jacob Sullum | 5.19.2014 4:05 PM

Marijuana

The Feds Say: Don't You Dare Call Marijuana Medicine

The Justice Department prosecutes medical marijuana patients while tolerating commercial cannabis.

Jacob Sullum | 5.19.2014 8:30 AM

War on Drugs

DEA Chief Dials Back Drug War Bluster After Talk With Holder

The Huffington Post | 5.16.2014 12:25 PM

Policy

If Pot Is Legal in Washington, Why Do These Medical Marijuana Users Face At Least 10 Years in Prison?

Jacob Sullum | 5.16.2014 11:12 AM

Policy

Feds Prosecute Medical Marijuana Users in Washington City Where Cannabusinesses Openly Operate

Jacob Sullum | 5.7.2014 1:50 PM

Sentencing

Obama's DEA Chief Refuses To Support Drug Sentencing Reforms

The Huffington Post | 5.6.2014 12:46 PM

Policy

Why America Leads the World at Putting People in Cages

Jacob Sullum | 5.1.2014 9:35 PM

Policy

Obama Finds His Clemency Pen

Commutations could be the president's most admirable legacy.

Jacob Sullum | 4.30.2014 7:00 AM

War on Drugs

DOJ to Attempt to Determine Just How Racist Police Are

Federal grants will be offered for more research.

Scott Shackford | 4.28.2014 2:30 PM

Policy

New Clemency Policy Could Free 'Hundreds, Perhaps Thousands' of Drug War Prisoners (and Yes, That Would Be Constitutional)

Jacob Sullum | 4.23.2014 2:04 PM

Sentencing

Criteria Set for DOJ Reviews of Clemency Application

Have to be non-violent with no significant criminal history and already in jail 10 years

Ed Krayewski | 4.23.2014 11:16 AM

Policy

Is a Major, Merciful Change in Presidential Pardon Policy Brewing?

Scott Shackford | 4.21.2014 4:00 PM

Policy

Obama Surpasses the Awful Commutation Records of Three Republicans but Still Falls Far Short of Nixonian Mercy

Jacob Sullum | 4.17.2014 12:35 PM

Policy

Commission Reduces Drug Sentences; Now It's Congress's Turn

Jacob Sullum | 4.11.2014 12:34 PM

Policy

Connecticut Drug Law Imposes a Three-Year Mandatory Minimum for Living in Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, or Waterbury

Jacob Sullum | 4.4.2014 12:35 PM

Policy

Poll Finds Most Americans Support Legal Pot and Oppose Treating Drug Users As Criminals

Jacob Sullum | 4.2.2014 1:15 PM

War on Drugs

Judge Rejects Drug Court Judge's 1.5 Year Plea Deal, Demands 2 Years Instead

Ed Krayewski | 3.31.2014 10:10 AM

Policy

Cops Say Any Change in Mandatory Minimums, Including Retroactive Application of Previous Reductions, Threatens Public Safety

Jacob Sullum | 3.19.2014 12:48 PM

Politics

Coloradans Can Challenge Sentences for Marijuana Offenses That Are No Longer Crimes

Jacob Sullum | 3.14.2014 3:35 PM

Policy

What You Need To Know About Holder's Drug Sentencing Proposal and the State of America's Prison Population

Attorney general urges U.S. Sentencing Commission to back reduced sentences for some drug offenders

Matthew Feeney | 3.13.2014 11:04 AM

Policy

On Sentencing Reform, Are Libertarian-Leaning Republicans Joining Holder, or Is It the Other Way Around?

Jacob Sullum | 3.5.2014 1:20 PM

Policy

Why Marissa Alexander's Second Trial Could Bring a Life Sentence Instead of 20 Years

Jacob Sullum | 3.4.2014 4:08 PM

Policy

Guantanamos Across America

Indefinite detention of sex offenders flouts the rule of law.

Jacob Sullum | 2.26.2014 7:00 AM

Policy

Missouri Keeps Man Behind Bars Seven Years After He Finished His Sentence, Waiting for Permission to Detain Him Indefinitely

Jacob Sullum | 2.20.2014 7:48 PM

Policy

Elderly Nun Sentenced to Prison for Break-In for Anti-Nuclear Protest

Nearly three years for her actions at Tennessee weapons plant

Reason Staff | 2.18.2014 6:45 PM

Policy

Matthew Feeney Discusses Mandatory Minimums on HuffPost Live at 1:30pm ET

Matthew Feeney | 2.12.2014 12:45 PM

Policy

Looking vs. Touching

Is possession of child pornography a crime worthy of years in prison?

Jacob Sullum | 2.12.2014 7:00 AM

Policy

Jacob Sullum in The Washington Post: Is Looking at Child Pornography Tantamount to Abusing Children?

Reason Staff | 2.11.2014 6:37 PM