Cohen Applauds Approval of Retroactive Sentence Reductions for Non-Violent Drug Offenders

[MEMPHIS, TN] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, applauded today’s unanimous decision by the U.S. Sentencing Commission to retroactively apply its recently-updated sentencing guidelines to an estimated 46,000 non-violent drug offenders who have already been sentenced. Last week, Congressman Cohen wrote to the Sentencing Commission chairwoman asking the Commission to make certain non-violent drug offenders eligible for reduced sentences if they are incarcerated in federal prisons under sentences that no longer apply under current law, as they did today. He also joined Attorney General Eric Holder last month in urging the Commission to make exactly this move.

“Throughout my career, I’ve fought for fairer sentencing laws and worked to eliminate racially-biased sentencing disparities,” said Congressman Cohen. “After years of advocating on behalf of Americans who are unfairly incarcerated, I am pleased that our nation’s policies are beginning to bend further towards justice. Today’s unanimous Sentencing Commission vote to retroactively apply current sentencing guidelines to those serving sentences that no longer apply under current law is another important step on this long path.”

While the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which Congressman Cohen cosponsored and the President signed into law, reduced the racially-biased 100:1 disparity between crack and powder cocaine mandatory minimum sentences, it did not apply retroactively to thousands of people who were sentenced before the law was passed who are still serving sentences that have been repudiated by Congress and President Barack Obama.

Today’s shift to retroactively reduce sentences will help remedy that problem and could reduce prison sentences for eligible offenders by an average 25 months. With the cost of housing federal inmates reaching nearly $30,000 per year, a 25 month sentence reduction for 46,000 inmates could save the federal government as much as $2.8 billion dollars. The shift could also help alleviate prison overcrowding and achieve a shared goal of Congressman Cohen and the President’s Administration to reserve the harshest penalties for the most dangerous criminals who pose a great threat to public safety, rather than non-violent offenders convicted of simple possession charges.

While today’s vote by the Sentencing Commission is positive, Congressman Cohen has also worked to right these injustices through other means. He has repeatedly asked the President to make broader use of his pardon and commutation powers for the unfairly incarcerated, including urging Attorney General Eric Holder to address the issue on multiple occasions, a letter sent to the President in June 2013, an August 2013 speech on Capitol Hill and a stirring column that appeared in The Nation. The pardon and commutation powers are, in addition to being the speediest method of bringing needed justice to thousands of people incarcerated under outdated crack cocaine sentences, one of the few actions that the President can take without being blocked or delayed by an obstructionist Congress.