This editorial was published in the Dallas Morning News:
America’s effort to use its prisons to stem the illegal drug problem has largely failed. Prison populations have skyrocketed, even as public opinion has shifted from harsh sentences for nonviolent drug crimes.
That’s why the U.S. Sentencing Commission was right to decide this month that about 50,000 federal drug-trafficking offenders could be eligible for reduced sentences. The amendment to federal sentencing guidelines, approved in April, is already in effect for offenders still facing sentencing, creating an issue of fairness: Why should the length of a sentence be determined by the date of sentencing?
The commission’s unanimous decision could see inmates get an average of two years off their prison terms, according to a report in the Washington Post.
Still, the prospect of prisoners being released back into society properly raised the concern of many prosecutors and judges.
The sentencing commission was sensitive to this concern and set an effective date of Nov. 1, 2015, for the release of any prisoner. Prisoners may begin applying for sentence reductions this November.
That demonstrated a fair understanding of the complexity of the issue.
The changes apply to traffickers of all drugs, but it’s not yet clear exactly how many of the estimated 50,000 eligible prisoners will actually see their sentences reduced.
Judges will still have to determine whether the person is a danger to society and should remain imprisoned for the full length of the original sentence. Judges also can consider how inmates behaved after they were sentenced.
But thousands, and possibly tens of thousands, of drug offenders who the courts decide are not dangerous could be returned to society earlier than expected.
There’s no doubt that will create a challenge. But there’s also no doubt that America will not incarcerate itself out of an illegal drug problem that has destroyed the fabric of large swaths of the country.
Advocates of reform did not get everything they might want from the sentencing commission. Mandatory minimum sentences for some drug offenses remain in place, for example. But the amendment to the guidelines does offer judges flexibility to review offenders’ cases and decide whether they deserve the chance to return to society sooner.