PRISON FELLOWSHIP: mandatory minimums

At 23 years old, Weldon Angelos had found himself behind bars facing a 55-year sentence as a first time, nonviolent offender.

He was resigned to his fate that he would not be released until he was at least 79 years old.

In 2000, Dana Bowerman was arrested for her role in a methamphetamine ring in Texas. She was sentenced to 19 years and seven months in prison—a sentence even the judge overseeing the case admitted was very harsh.

“I needed time to get my head straight,” Bowerman admits, reflecting on a life that had gone from being an honor roll student to a 15-year addiction to methamphetamine at the time of her arrest.

A recent report by the Pew Charitable Trusts provides new evidence suggesting that the increased incarceration rates over the last three decades for drug offenses have done little to reduce crime and recidivism.

The study, “Federal Drug Sentencing Laws Bring High Cost, Low Return,” examines the effects of “tough on crime” legislation passed in the 1980s and 1990s.  

Jake Grant is an intern working with Justice Fellowship, the policy arm of Prison Fellowship.  A version of this post appears on the Justice Fellowship website.

Five years ago, Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA) of 2010. The law lowered sentencing disparity between powder and crack cocaine and eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for simple possession of crack cocaine.

For all the contentious, divisive issues that have recently dominated national headlines, there is one policy issue that continues to receive broad, bipartisan support—the need for meaningful sentencing and corrections reforms in the United States.  And with new efforts by President Obama to highlight the need for changes, the time may be right for a significant transformation in how we view prisons and the men and women inside them.

Speaking to a gathering of the American Bar Association in San Francisco on August 12, Attorney General Eric Holder announced sweeping changes to current sentencing practices that will allow for greater flexibility and eliminate “mandatory minimum” sentencing for many non-violent offenders.

Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder stood before the American Bar Association to announce that the Obama administration will be taking a new approach to decreasing the number of prisoners in the U.S. prison system.

The Wall Street Journal reports that this “major policy shift aimed at reversing decades of increasing incarceration,” will cut down on costs for the federal prison system and provide relief from overcrowded prisons.  

The total number of inmates in state and federal prisons in the United States decreased by 1.7 percent in 2012, according to a new report issued by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.  It is the third consecutive annual decrease, following three decades of growth.