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PRISON FELLOWSHIP BLOG: mandatory minimums

  • Advocacy & Reentry
A Life Restored

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.

By Breanna Atkinson
June 24, 2016
Families Against Mandatory Minimums | Generation Opportunity | Helping Families | mandatory minimums | Weldon Angelos
Cage idea feature image
  • Advocacy & Reentry
  • Feature Stories
  • Prison & Prisoners
  • Reentry
Rethinking Incarceration

In 1994, Congress passed a crime bill that strengthened penalties for drug offenses and earmarked billions of dollars for new prison construction. Prison populations across the country boomed as a result, with recidivism rates remaining high.  Drug offenses became the leading reason for incarceration, but prisons nationwide struggled to provide programming capable of breaking the cycle of incarceration, release, and rearrest.  

By Steve Rempe
May 18, 2016
Drug Programs | mandatory minimums | massachusetts | recidivism | Reentry | rehabilitation | South Bay House of Corrections
  • Advocacy & Reentry
  • Prison & Prisoners
  • Reentry
Seeking a Second Chance

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.

By Steve Rempe
April 14, 2016
Daily Signal | Dana Bowerman | employment | mandatory minimums | Reentry | Texas
  • Uncategorized
Improving the Return on Sentencing Laws

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.

Click on image to view report

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.  

By Steve Rempe
September 16, 2015
Drug Policy | Drugs | mandatory minimums | Pew | recidivism | Reentry | Three Strikes
  • Uncategorized
How to Really Get Tough on Crime

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.

By Jake Grant
August 25, 2015
Cocaine | CORRECTIONS Act | Fair Sentencing Act | mandatory minimums | Sentencing Commission | Smarter Sentencing Act
  • Prison & Prisoners
  • Prison Fellowship News & Updates
  • Reentry
Change on the Horizon?

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.

By Steve Rempe
July 17, 2015
El Reno | John Cornyn | mandatory minimums | Obama Administration | Oklahoma | overcrowding | Prison Rape | Rand Paul | Reentry
  • Uncategorized
New Sentencing Reforms “A Good First Step”

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.

By Steve Rempe
August 15, 2013
Craig DeRoche | Eric Holder | mandatory minimums
  • Prison Fellowship News & Updates
Attorney General Announces Plan to Reduce Prison Population

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.  

By Rebekah L. Stratton
August 13, 2013
Eric Holder | mandatory minimums | overc
  • Prison Fellowship News & Updates
U.S. Prison Population Continues to Decrease

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.

By Steve Rempe
July 27, 2013
California | mandatory minimums | overcrowding

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View our latest press releases and hear what other publications are saying about Prison Fellowship and our programs.

    Congress restores college funding for inmates (World Magazine)
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