U.S.: Sentencing reform gains momentum

Over the past few weeks, lawmakers have introduced bipartisan measures that would give judges more power to shorten prison sentences for nonviolent criminals and even get rid of some mandatory minimum terms altogether.

The war on drugs is now 30, 40 years old, Holder said. There have been a lot of unintended consequences. There’s been a decimation of certain communities, in particular communities of color.

That’s one reason why the Justice Department has had a group of lawyers working behind the scenes for months on proposals the attorney general could present as early as next week in a speech to the American Bar Association in San Francisco.
Further reading