drug sentencing

At a time when conservatives are sweeping history aside, Sotomayor’s concurring opinion provides a framework for Congress to fix the gap in legislation which often affects Black and minority communities.

President Barack Obama‘s commutation of 8 crack cocaine sentences that he said were unduly harsh underscores the problem with so-called “mandatory minimum” drug sentencing laws that force judges to impose long sentences even if they don’t fit the crime. “The people [whose sentences he commuted] yesterday already had served 15 years, many of them — […]