Cohen: Reduced Sentence Eligibility for Non-violent Offenders Will Help Right Injustices of Outdated, Racially-biased Laws

[WASHINGTON, DC] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, today joined Attorney General Eric Holder in urging the U.S. Sentencing 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. The Commission earlier this year approved sentencing guideline changes that are estimated to reduce prison sentences for new non-violent drug offenses by an average 23 months, but must still vote to make currently-incarcerated individuals eligible to have their sentences retroactively reduced.

“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—but that justice has not yet reached many of those who most need it.”

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.

“Our Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 marked a step towards addressing a fundamentally unfair policy moving forward, but it did not address the injustice of—or the wasteful spending necessitated by—keeping Americans in prison longer than current law mandates. I stand with President Obama’s Administration in urging the U.S. Sentencing Commission to move swiftly and make these new sentencing guidelines retroactive for current non-violent offenders.”

Attorney General Holder announced this morning that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) would support the Sentencing Commission making its amended guidelines retroactive for those currently incarcerated. If approved by the Commission, retroactively reducing sentences would both 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.

Not content to simply wait on the Sentencing Commission to retroactively reduce sentences for deserving non-violent offenders, 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.