Cohen Applauds New Approach to Federal Drug Crime Sentencing

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a national leader in the effort to reduce prison overcrowding and reform federal mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenses that unfairly and unequally affect people of color and minority communities, today applauded United States Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will overhaul its draconian prosecution policies for non-violent drug offenders.

“By announcing a new approach to the prosecution of non-violent drug offenses, Attorney General Holder renewed the Obama Administration’s dedication to making sure our nation’s policies better align with our ideals, the goals of our judicial system, and our laws,” said Congressman Cohen. “We can no longer continue hoping that imprisoning the most number of people for the longest amount of time will keep our streets safe or help rehabilitate non-violent offenders—we already know that it doesn’t work, and we know that our current policies unfairly harm African American and minority communities. I am glad our government is taking this important step towards a smarter, more fair, and more just approach to addressing drugs in America.”

Congressman Cohen has a long history of working to reduce prison overcrowding and unfair sentencing practices. At a recent hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, he questioned Attorney General Holder about the DOJ’s prosecution of non-violent drug offenders and the role it plays in the overcrowding of federal prisons. The Congressman has also raised these issues directly with President Barack Obama and followed up, in writing, to both the President and Attorney General Holder urging a program of compassionate release through broader use of the pardon power as a method of cutting overcrowding, saving taxpayer money, and providing justice to those serving unnecessarily long sentences.

The Congressman also co-sponsored the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which reduced the 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. Prior to President Obama signing the bill into law, those arrested for crack offenses—mostly young, African American men—were subject to far harsher penalties than those arrested for powder cocaine offenses, who are more likely to be Caucasian. An offender arrested with a mere 5 grams of crack-cocaine would have faced the same five-year mandatory minimum sentence as an offender arrested with 500 grams of powder cocaine. Thanks to Congressman Cohen’s leadership, that is no longer the case. More information about the Fair Sentencing Act is available here.