(July 5, 2015 at 3:33 pm)Minimalist Wrote: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/presiden...rceration/
Quote:President Obama commutes non-violent drug sentences in move to reduce mass incarceration
Quote:In an effort to pare down the massive number of people serving long prison sentences for non-violent, drug-related offenses, President Barack Obama will free dozens of federal prisoners in the coming weeks, the New York Times reports.
While the president is expected to commute the sentences of a rough total of 80 people soon, it’s just a small fraction of the 30,000 prisoners who applied for clemency. But it’s part of a broader move to correct what many agree to be a national pattern of gross over-sentencing, thanks to years of “tough on crime” politicians who instituted mandatory minimum sentencing, according to the Times.
The United States is the world’s largest jailer, according to statistics from the American Civil Liberties Union. With just 5 percent of the world’s population, the US has 25 percent of the world’s prison population. Since 1970, the US prison population has shot up 700 percent.
The crisis has been attributed to the War on Drugs, which is now broadly seen as a failure, and mandatory minimum sentencing, according to Business Insider.
Expect 'Murrica to scream bloody murder.
Time for thinkers to shoulder up and explain it to the masses. It's a long-overdue move.
