The United States Sentencing Commission voted to reduce jail sentencing guidelines for about 70% of drug traffickers in the federal court system. CNN.com’s article about the vote is here. These new guidelines will go into effect on November 1, unless Congress objects. US Attorney General Eric Holder had already instructed his prosecutors to implement the guidelines even before the vote, which did not go over well in certain quarters.
The reduction in sentences in the federal system is 100% about reducing prison overcrowding, which is at epic levels in the federal prison system. According to the CNN article, the federal system is at 140% of capacity and getting more crowded. Here is a good page about prison statistics in general nationwide.
The Delaware General Assembly recently did a comprehensive overhaul of its drug statutes, and actually went the opposite way. The sentences got much tougher for drug traffickers, especially drug traffickers who have firearms. On the other hand, things got more lenient for use/possession offenses. Overall, it is a good revamp of a very convoluted drug statute, and while it did not get any less complicated, it did get more fair.
But the tougher drug/gun laws in Delaware will only make our already packed prisons even more overcrowded. The Delaware overcrowding problem is just as bad ad the federal one. This is a better time than ever to reconsider policies that get people locked up for minor offenses and probation violations and instead save the jail space for the serious offenders who are duly convicted and sentenced.