Sessions Tells Prosecutors To Seek 'Most Serious' Charges for low level drug crimes

[Aegon]

in a memo to staff, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has ordered federal prosecutors to "charge and pursue the most serious, readily provable offense" — a move that marks a significant reversal of Obama-era policies on low-level drug crimes.

The two-page memo, which was publicly released Friday, lays out a policy of strict enforcement that rolls back the comparatively lenient stance established by one of his predecessors under President Obama, Eric Holder.

"This policy affirms our responsibility to enforce the law, is moral and just, and produces consistency. This policy fully utilizes the tools Congress has given us," Sessions told thousands of assistant U.S. attorneys in the memo. "By definition, the most serious offenses are those that carry the most substantial guidelines sentence, including mandatory minimum sentences."

Holder had asked prosecutors to avoid slapping nonviolent drug offenders with crimes that carried mandatory minimum sentences — which, as NPR's Tamara Keith explains, "give judges and prosecutors little discretion over the length of a prison term if a suspect is convicted." Holder's recommendation had been aimed partly at helping reduce burgeoning prison populations in the U.S.

Now, if prosecutors wish to pursue lesser charges for these low-level crimes, they will need to obtain approval for the exception from a U.S. attorney, assistant attorney general or another supervisor.

Tamara notes this marks a return to the "tough-on-crime philosophy of the 1990s."

"Our responsibility is to fulfill our role in a way that accords with the law, advances public safety, and promotes respect for our legal system," Sessions writes. "It is of the utmost importance to enforce the law fairly and consistently."

And Sessions made clear he means this shift in policy to be immediate.

"Any inconsistent previous policy of the Department of Justice relating to these matters is rescinded, effective today."

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2...t=20170512

Gotta keep those private prisons filled.