Sessions Reverses Obama/Holder Era Policies

[Guest shiloh357]

Attorney General Jeff Sessions' office sent out a letter late Thursday to the nation's federal prosecutors instructing them to pursue the most serious charges possible against most criminal suspects.

The move will send more people to prison and for much longer terms by triggering mandatory minimum sentences.

Officials at the Department of Justice said the new guidelines are a direct rebuttal of policies implemented under President Obama’s attorney general, Eric Holder.

The memo is already being referred to as “the Sessions Memo.” The 94 U.S. attorneys were instructed in the memo to “charge and pursue the most serious and readily provable offense.”

These cases often carry the longest sentences.The memo also brings back into effect mandatory minimum sentences, which are expected to increase prosecutions and the prison population.

Holder, who served under the Obama administration, implemented the “Smart on Crime” drug sentencing policy that focused on not incarcerating people who committed low level non-violent crimes.

The Obama administration used the “Smart on Crime” policy to combat what they believed was a high number of prosecutions of non-violent drug offenders. DOJ officials call it a “false narrative” and say unless a gun is involved, most of those cases aren’t charged period.

Officials say Holder’s “Smart on Crime” policy “convoluted the process,” and left prosecutors applying the law unevenly, which they said “is not Justice.”

Critics of the shift say it will revive the worst aspects of the drug war. But Sessions has said a spike in violence in some big cities shows the need for a return to tougher tactics.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/12/sessions-doj-releases-memo-to-all-94-us-attorneys-calling-for-reversal-holder-era-policy.html

[Running Gator]

All part of the plan to make America great again. We are not satisfied with having the world's largest prison population by a measly 30% over the next country (a country with a population 4 times that of the US).   We need to make that number twice as much as the next closest country.   Forget that we incarcerate a higher percentage of our black population than South Africa did during the height of apartheid, we need more in jail! 

[MorningGlory]

3 hours ago, Running Gator said:

All part of the plan to make America great again. We are not satisfied with having the world's largest prison population by a measly 30% over the next country (a country with a population 4 times that of the US).   We need to make that number twice as much as the next closest country.   Forget that we incarcerate a higher percentage of our black population than South Africa did during the height of apartheid, we need more in jail! 

So what would make you happy?  Catch and release?  Bringing drug offenses down to misdemeanors?  Probation for murderers?  Our legal system is way too lax already.   Might I point out that our black citizens don't have to be in prison but they commit the largest percentage of violent crimes in the U.S?  Don't do the crime, you get no time.

[Guest shiloh357]

4 hours ago, Running Gator said:

Forget that we incarcerate a higher percentage of our black population than South Africa did during the height of apartheid, we need more in jail! 

And there is a good reason for that.

[Running Gator]

7 minutes ago, MorningGlory said:

So what would make you happy?  Catch and release?  Bringing drug offenses down to misdemeanors?  Probation for murderers?  Our legal system is way too lax already.   Might I point out that our black citizens don't have to be in prison but they commit the largest percentage of violent crimes in the U.S?  Don't do the crime, you get no time.

Our legal system is not lax, it is broken.  Decriminalize marijuana, let everyone in jail for marijuana related offenses out.   More than 50% of our prison population is due to drug related charges, and almost 30% of those are due to marijuana only. 

Then some time or another we need to take a hard look at our country and determine what makes us so violent.   Why do we have the largest prison population in the world?  It is not like our laws are that much stricter than many other places.

[MorningGlory]

6 hours ago, Running Gator said:

Our legal system is not lax, it is broken.  Decriminalize marijuana, let everyone in jail for marijuana related offenses out.   More than 50% of our prison population is due to drug related charges, and almost 30% of those are due to marijuana only. 

Then some time or another we need to take a hard look at our country and determine what makes us so violent.   Why do we have the largest prison population in the world?  It is not like our laws are that much stricter than many other places.

Well, I won't try to answer the question above because it's a mystery to me as well.  Marijuana HAS been made legal in some states; has the crime or incarceration rate fallen?  I don't know.

[Guest shiloh357]

11 hours ago, MorningGlory said:

Well, I won't try to answer the question above because it's a mystery to me as well.  Marijuana HAS been made legal in some states; has the crime or incarceration rate fallen?  I don't know.

We don't need to decriminalize Marijuana or anything else.  When the state sanctions sin, it brings judgement down on the whole nation.

[Running Gator]

15 minutes ago, shiloh357 said:

We don't need to decriminalize Marijuana or anything else.  When the state sanctions sin, it brings judgement down on the whole nation.

Marajuana is no more sinful than beer. 

[Guest shiloh357]

15 minutes ago, Running Gator said:

Marajuana is no more sinful than beer. 

It is far worse than beer.   I have worked around pot users.  Worthless workers.

[Running Gator]

19 minutes ago, shiloh357 said:

It is far worse than beer.   I have worked around pot users.  Worthless workers.

There are a lot of worthless teetotalers, but this is not about being worthless, this is about which sins you think should be criminalized.   You have a very selective list of sins that should be criminalized while not suggesting such things for other sins.  

Why is that?