Notably, Cassell is not alone in the quest to reestablish how minimum mandatory sentencing is carried out and in some circumstances, avoided completely. Professor William G. Otis is a law professor at Georgetown University and former federal prosecutor who served as Special Counsel Member to President George H. W. Bush. In a similar tone to Cassell, Otis in his article "Should Mandatory Minimum Laws Be Repealed?" explores the concept of minimum mandatory sentencing from the perspective of the federal legislature’s lack of faith in the ability of state judges to uniformly get sentencing right when offenders were found guilty of carrying crime. As a direct result of such legislation and as explored above, thousands of non-violent, first time
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On the Democratic side of the aisle who historically has been liberal in the criminal justice department, has called for a reduction of time in sentencing for crime involving drugs to combat the existing mass incarceration in this country. As an example, Senator Dick J. Durbin, (Democrat) from Illinois has co-sponsored a bill proposed to Congress to do just that stating that “The judicial system has been a critical element in keeping violent criminals off the street, but now we’re stepping back, and I think it’s about time, to ask whether the dramatic increase in incarceration was warranted” (Eckholm, 2015). In fact, many Democrats under the Obama administration along with Eric Holder have outspokenly called for a reduction in prison sentencing emphasizing the disparagement of the current justice system in place today. Commonly associated with their prison sentencing cut proposals is economic progress the country would make in simply reducing time served by any given inmate. To explain, by simply cutting the average nonviolent offender 's time in prison in half, the prison population would be reduced by about a quarter over the course of the next six years (Ehrenfreund, 2015). Although this policy initiative remains …show more content…
Recently, Senator Charles E. Grassley, (Republican) out of the state of Iowa who was recently appointed as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has taken a hard stance against any notion of “broad reductions” in prison sentencing. Although in an interview with the New York Times Grassley affirmed that “there are a lot of ideas — prison reform, policing, sentencing — being discussed now that wouldn’t be if we hadn’t had this drop in the crime statistics” (Ehrenfreund, 2015). Ultimately Grassley cites the effectiveness of the standing policies and otherwise stripping away their effectiveness would simply revert crime rates back to the years prior to the big push for tough on crime policy. Still, flexibility in the form of Republican state policy makers exists in the form of committing to reducing state prison populations. Republican Governor Bruce Rauner out of Illinois has implemented flexibility granted to local officials in the form by reforming local jail administration and giving cops alternatives to making arrests when they encounter nonviolent, habitual lawbreakers on the street. Through this approach, Rauner asserts that local officials can limit incarceration without damaging public safety, in turn cutting down on prison populations and aiding in the performance of law enforcement
On the Democratic side of the aisle who historically has been liberal in the criminal justice department, has called for a reduction of time in sentencing for crime involving drugs to combat the existing mass incarceration in this country. As an example, Senator Dick J. Durbin, (Democrat) from Illinois has co-sponsored a bill proposed to Congress to do just that stating that “The judicial system has been a critical element in keeping violent criminals off the street, but now we’re stepping back, and I think it’s about time, to ask whether the dramatic increase in incarceration was warranted” (Eckholm, 2015). In fact, many Democrats under the Obama administration along with Eric Holder have outspokenly called for a reduction in prison sentencing emphasizing the disparagement of the current justice system in place today. Commonly associated with their prison sentencing cut proposals is economic progress the country would make in simply reducing time served by any given inmate. To explain, by simply cutting the average nonviolent offender 's time in prison in half, the prison population would be reduced by about a quarter over the course of the next six years (Ehrenfreund, 2015). Although this policy initiative remains …show more content…
Recently, Senator Charles E. Grassley, (Republican) out of the state of Iowa who was recently appointed as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has taken a hard stance against any notion of “broad reductions” in prison sentencing. Although in an interview with the New York Times Grassley affirmed that “there are a lot of ideas — prison reform, policing, sentencing — being discussed now that wouldn’t be if we hadn’t had this drop in the crime statistics” (Ehrenfreund, 2015). Ultimately Grassley cites the effectiveness of the standing policies and otherwise stripping away their effectiveness would simply revert crime rates back to the years prior to the big push for tough on crime policy. Still, flexibility in the form of Republican state policy makers exists in the form of committing to reducing state prison populations. Republican Governor Bruce Rauner out of Illinois has implemented flexibility granted to local officials in the form by reforming local jail administration and giving cops alternatives to making arrests when they encounter nonviolent, habitual lawbreakers on the street. Through this approach, Rauner asserts that local officials can limit incarceration without damaging public safety, in turn cutting down on prison populations and aiding in the performance of law enforcement