10 Search results for "nonviolent drug offenses"

While he’s wrapping up his presidency, leaving a lasting legacy on the U.S. prison system looks to be one of President Barack Obama’s goals. He’s already done more than most presidents in regards to granting clemency and commutations for inmates, but he’s not done. 

As part of a new initiative, President Obama plans to dramatically increase the number of drug offenders he considers for clemency.  According to White House spokesman Jay Carney, the president has requested that the Justice Department set up a process to ensure that anyone who has a good case for commutation has their application evaluated.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder endorsed a proposal that would result in shorter prison sentences for many nonviolent drug offenses. Holder says the change would rein in runaway federal prison cost and create a fairer criminal justice system. 

Clarence Aaron is one of 8 prisoners whose sentences were pardoned by President Obama on Thursday. Aaron is one of many first-time nonviolent drug offenders sentenced to life without parole. His story was widely used as a prime example of injustice within the prison system. 

The war on drugs is very real. Many of the country’s prison population is serving hard time behind bars due to their involvement in the drug game. Thousands on inmates are serving Life Without Parole (LWOP) sentences for offenses that are as small as possession of a crack pipe or a smudge of heroin in a bottle cap.

Attorney General Eric Holder will announce major drug sentencing reforms today. The Justice Department will avoid charging low-level and nonviolent drug offenders with crimes that carry mandatory minimum sentences, as long as they’re not connected with criminal organizations.

 by Cheryldean Peters Beginning in the early 1600s, my ancestors were legally forced into slavery and robbed of their freedom. They were involuntarily exploited, beaten and forced to work as servants, which primarily helped generate income for America’s economy. Their servitude drastically enhanced local and colonial economics while creating generational wealth for their oppressors. Africans […]

The following is a guest post written by Logan Strain a writer for Instant Checkmate, an online background check service.  When he isn’t reading, he’s hanging out with his daughter. By: Logan Strain In Florida, having enough pills to fit into the palm of your hand will land you in prison for three years. At least. Statute […]

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) has introduced a bill to Congress that would be an uphill battle under any administration, not considering the current one. Booker’s bill would legalize marijuana on a federal level and work to undo the decades of harm and wasted funds spent on the war on drugs in the U.S. 

As reported in the AJC, seventeen-year-old Jaydon Lee Reid from Cobb County, Georgia was just given two life sentences and an additional fifteen years for the shooting of Terrence Banks and Sterling Hargrave when he was fourteen years old. While much work around juvenile justice and reducing prison sentences focuses on commuting the sentences or […]