WASHINGTON – 4/12/2014 - The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted on April 11 to reduce sentencing guidelines for certain people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. The amendment would reduce the average sentence for drug traffickers by 11 months, by lowering the drug sentencing guidelines two levels. Attorney General Eric Holder endorsed the change during testimony before the commission last month.
"Our country is slowly but steadily reversing the damage done by the failed, racially biased war on drugs," ACLU Senior Legislative Counse Jesselyn McCurdy said. "The actions taken by the Sentencing Commission . . . are another positive move toward reducing unnecessarily long sentences that have led to bloated, overcrowded prisons. Our criminal justice system is smarter, fairer, and more humane than it was a year ago, and we need to make sure momentum continues in the right direction."
The amendment, along with several others that were passed, will go to Congress for its approval on May 1. Congress has six months to introduce and pass legislation to stop the proposed changes before they become law on November 1.
Source: American Civil Liberties Union
America’s Right-Wing Radicals -- Documentary
Summary: On 6 January 2021, hundreds of Donald Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington. Five people were killed and many injured. In this documentary, US-American filmmaker Charlie Sadoff and his co-writer and producer Kenneth Harbaugh gained access to violent rightwing extremist circles in America, including anti-government militias such as the Proud Boys, the Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers.
Know Your Rights
SUMMARY: Hear from legal experts at the ACLU of Maine, U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein (Ret.), and former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance.
