Mandatory-Minimum Sentencing Criticized, Even by Judges

Thanks in part to draconian mandatory-minimum sentencing and insufficiently flexible federal sentencing guidelines, our nation's prisons and jails hold more than half a million nonviolent drug offenders – more than the total number of prisoners in the entire European Union for all criminal offenses combined, even though the EU has more people than the United States. Earlier this year, Congress passed legislation known as the Feeney Amendment (now Section 401 of the PROTECT Act) that will strip even more discretion from judges by requiring the U.S. Sentencing Commission to enact changes to the federal sentencing guidelines reducing the frequency of "downward departures." This measure has been rightfully criticized by judges, whose duty is to examine all aspects of a case and render a decision that fully meets the needs of justice. A measure introduced by U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., the JUDGES Act (SR 1086 and HR 2213), would repeal Section 401 and other unjust provisions of the PROTECT Act. Please support and vote for the JUDGES Act to end this ill-conceived attack on judicial discretion.