The Failure To Enact Marijuana Banking and Crack Sentencing Reforms Is a Window on Congressional Dysfunction
Although both bills have broad bipartisan support, they never got a vote in the Senate and were excluded from the omnibus spending bill.
Mandatory Minimums
Congress Misses Another Chance To Correct Blatantly Unjust Crack Penalties
The legal distinction between the smoked and snorted forms of cocaine never made sense.
Congress Yet Again Fails To Pass Crack Cocaine Sentencing Reforms
A compromise to cram crack sentencing reform into the year-end omnibus spending bill fell apart at the last minute.
Merrick Garland's New Charging Policy Aims To Ameliorate the Damage His Boss Did As a Drug Warrior
The attorney general's memo to prosecutors is an improvement, but it is no substitute for legislation.
Mandatory Life Sentences for Juvenile Homicide Offenders are Unconstitutional, Rules Tennessee Supreme Court
The court says a 51-year "life" sentence for a 2015 murder violated the Eighth Amendment.
How Many People Have To Be Assaulted or Killed Before Chuck Schumer Stops Resisting Marijuana Banking Reform?
The Senate majority leader has repeatedly blocked a bill that would address the robbery threat to state-licensed pot shops.
The War on Weed Continues in California, Which Supposedly Legalized Marijuana Six Years Ago
Federal and state agencies are busting unlicensed marijuana merchants, who face decades in prison.
Tom Cotton, a Second Amendment Champion, Proposes a 5-Year Mandatory Minimum for Violating Arbitrary Gun Bans
Although the Arkansas senator claims to be targeting "violent felons," his draconian bill would affect many people who pose no threat.
The FDA's Menthol Cigarette Ban Is a 'Racial Justice' Issue, but Not in the Way Its Supporters Mean
The proposed rule, which targets the cigarettes that black smokers overwhelmingly prefer, will harm the community it is supposed to help.
Biden Begins Using Clemency To Ameliorate the Damage Done by the Draconian Drug Policies He Long Supported
The 75 commutations announced today, while impressive compared to the pitiful records of previous presidents, pale beside a huge backlog of petitions.
He Faces 10 Years to Life for Selling Pot, a Legal Business in Most States
Jonathan Wall, whose federal trial begins on May 2, notes that many people openly engage in similar conduct with impunity.
Did Ketanji Brown Jackson Flout the Law When She Reduced a Drug Dealer's Sentence?
The Supreme Court nominee's critics say she clearly did, but several federal appeals courts disagree.
Man With No Criminal History Gets 5-Year Sentence for Selling Weed
The federal mandatory minimum didn't leave many options.
Colorado Gov. Polis Commutes 110-Year Sentence for Trucker in Deadly Crash, Pardons Hundreds of Marijuana Convictions
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos faced harsh punishment under the state’s mandatory minimum sentences for insisting on the right to a trial.
He Was Sentenced To 110 Years in Prison for Causing a Fatal Traffic Accident. The Judge Isn't Happy About It.
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos is set to die in prison, thanks to Colorado's mandatory sentencing laws.
Thousands Beg President Joe Biden for Mercy as He Pardons a Couple of Turkeys
The annual photo op takes on cruel undertones as drug offenders continue to suffer under harsh federal prison sentences.
Federal Judges Are Increasingly Rebelling Against 'Overly Severe' Penalties for Nonviolent Sex Offenders
People convicted of possessing child pornography receive long sentences, but new data suggest they are rarely arrested for contact offenses after their release.
743 Years and 3 Months. 117 Years. 51 Years. Why Are These Men's Sentences So Long?
For possessing a gun while committing a crime—even when no one is killed—too many defendants are slammed with sentences decades or even centuries longer than justice demands.
Justice Department Rescinds Trump-Era Memo Ordering Prosecutors To Seek Harshest Sentences
The memo reverses a directive from former Attorney General Jeff Sessions that ordered federal prosecutors to throw the book at low-level drug offenders.
A Letter From a Florida Inmate Asked for Help. It Arrived Too Late.
Theresa Mathis was in the middle of a 25-year mandatory minimum sentence when she sent Reason a letter asking for help.
Biden Tries To Gloss Over His Long History of Supporting the Drug War and Draconian Criminal Penalties
The Democratic presidential nominee cannot escape one of his major legacies.
The FIRST STEP Act Has Reduced Prison Terms for More Than 7,000 People
While that's nothing to sneeze at, it is a modest accomplishment in the context of a federal prison system that keeps more than 150,000 Americans behind bars.
Trump's Vague Commitment to Criminal Justice Reform
The president's daughter says "we’re just getting started." Some details would be nice.
Tennessee's Lawmakers Respond to Police Reform Protests by Threatening Voting Rights and Gun Rights
The new law features harsher penalties, 12-hour detentions, and other invitations to abuse government power
Florida Inmates Serving Outdated Drug Sentences Released Early Following Reason Investigation
A Florida prosecutor's office reviewed the cases and agreed to resentencing for nearly two dozen inmates, calling it "a matter of fundamental fairness."
Kamala Harris Is So 'Radical,' Trump's Campaign Says, That She Criticized Joe Biden's Criminal Justice Record. So Does Trump.
Harris and Trump are both right that the Democratic nominee has a long record of championing draconian penalties.
RIP Arnold Trebach, Who Helped Make Opposition to the Drug War Respectable
The American University professor called for "drug peace" at a time when both major parties were committed to ever-escalating violence.
Tennessee May Finally Reform Draconian Drug-Free School Zone Laws
Too often, minor drug crimes turn into mandatory minimum offenses with lengthy sentences despite the fact these types of cases rarely involve drug dealing to minors.
Trump Attacks Biden on Drug Policy From the Left
It's an interesting strategy for a president who ran in 2016 on a Nixonian "law and order" platform.
Tackling 'Very Unfair' Drug Penalties Could Help Trump Win
If the president wants voters to take him seriously, he should stop pretending the problem has been solved.
Why Do Critics of Harsh Drug Penalties Support Them When the Drug Is Fentanyl?
A new Drug Policy Alliance report highlights this puzzling and dangerous inconsistency.
Will Florida Finally Grant Relief to Inmates Trapped Serving Sentences Under Drug Laws That No Longer Exist?
Somewhere between 650 and 1,000 Florida inmates are serving sentences under draconian opioid trafficking laws that have since been rolled back.
Criminal Justice Reform Is Having a (Long Overdue) Moment
Slowly but surely, some of the most glaring problems of our criminal justice system are being addressed.
Cory Booker's 'Second Look' Reforms Would Create More Chances To Reduce Federal Prison Sentences
Judges would be permitted to rethink sentences after 10 years have been served, particularly for inmates over the age of 50.
Joe Biden's New Criminal Justice Platform Calls for Eliminating Harsh Policies Sponsored by Joe Biden
A breathtaking repudiation of his own legacy on criminal justice
Congressman Asked Bureau of Prisons Three Times About Nonviolent Offender Who Later Died in Maximum Security Lockup
A congressman forwarded messages to the Bureau of Prisons from Rick Turner's family begging for his relocation. Two were ignored.
Cory Booker Proposes Thousands of Drug War Commutations If Elected President
Booker would move the process away from prosecutors and into the White House.
A Judge Called His Mandatory Sentence 'Excessive' and 'Wrong.' Less Than a Year Later He Died In Federal Prison
Frederick Turner was sentenced to a mandatory 40 years on nonviolent drug and firearm charges. He ended up in a high-security federal prison, and now he's dead.
1,051 Crack Sentence Reductions Illustrate Painful Progress Toward a Less Mindlessly Punitive Justice System
On average, crack offenders who have benefited from the FIRST STEP Act will serve 14 years instead of 20.
In the Space of One Minute, Joe Biden Defends the Death Penalty for Drug Dealers, Asset Forfeiture, and Mandatory Minimums
This 1991 Senate floor speech shows Biden's central role in crafting disastrous crime policies.
The Washington Post Blames Obama for Fentanyl Deaths
The paper suggests that more drug law enforcement is the solution to a problem created by drug law enforcement.
Paul Manafort's Lenient Prison Sentence Isn't the Travesty—the Rest of the System Is
The problem isn't that a judge went easy on a rich defendant. It's that mandatory minimums make it impossible to do the same in many other cases.
Florida Sentenced Nonviolent Drug Offenders to Decades in Prison. New Laws Could Change That
The passage of the bipartisan FIRST STEP Act in Congress and a struggling, expensive prison system have Florida lawmakers considering similar reforms.
Trump Decries Unjust Crack Sentences but Wants to Repeat the Mistake With Fentanyl
Reducing the thresholds for mandatory minimums in fentanyl cases will produce more injustices like the ones the president highlighted last night.
Rather Than Running for President, Maybe Joe Biden Should Just Launch an Apology Tour
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the former vice president acknowledges regrets about his role in the drug war and mass incarcerations.
The Number of Men in Federal Prison for Viewing or Sharing Child Pornography Has Nearly Septupled Since 2004
Most are serving mandatory minimums, usually for crimes that did not involve assault or sexual abuse.
Hello, FIRST STEP Act! Goodbye, Jeff Sessions! The Year in Criminal Justice Reform
2018 was a mixed bag, but that means there was still a lot of good news.