Attorney General Jeff Sessions considering return to harsh punishments for low-level drug offend

[riversedge]

Fill the prisons is Sessions motto--those private prisons!!



Attorney General Jeff Sessions considering return to harsh punishments for low-level drug offenders

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/jeff-sessions-reviewing-obama-drug-crime-sentencing-policies-article-1.3150679?utm_content=buffer32194&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=NYDailyNewsTwhttp://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/jeff-sessions-reviewing-obama-drug-crime-sentencing-policies-article-1.3150679?utm_content=buffer32194&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=NYDailyNewsTw

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.3150676.1494359384!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_1200/afp-nt8uz.jpg
Jeff Sessions has long advocated against Obama's "Smart on Crime" initiative. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)



BY Jessica Schladebeck

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Tuesday, May 9, 2017, 3:56 PM

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is reviewing a policy that reduces harsh prison sentences for first-time and nonviolent drug offenders put in place by the Obama administration, officials said.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, sources told the Washington Post that Sessions is considering having prosecutors charge people with offenses most likely to trigger severe mandatory minimum sentences — regardless of whether they’re low-level or first time offenders.

The source added that Sessions could also authorize prosecutors to make “enhancements,” which would allow for even longer prison sentences.................



..........“As the Attorney General has consistently said, we are reviewing all Department of Justice policies to focus on keeping Americans safe and will be issuing further guidance and support to our prosecutors in executing this priority — including an updated memorandum on charging for all criminal cases,” Ian Prior, a department spokesman, said in a statement to the Post.................

[Zoonart]

1. I wouldn't worry too much about this...

I think Jeffy has dug himself a hole that he may not get out of.

[riversedge]

3. I have not heard too many Repugs coming out condemining Sessions for being in the

midst of the firing of Comey even though he recused himself.

[Tanuki]

2. Follow the private prison money

(Note that last year Sally Yates ordered a phasing out of private prisons. That's probably another reason Trump et al wanted her out of office).


https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2017/02/27/follow-money-former-sessions-aides-lobbyists-private-prisons-group/

"February 24, 2017; The Nation

For activists working on reducing mass incarceration as a cornerstone of criminal justice reform, the future looks more than a little daunting.

On Friday, NPQ wrote about the new memo from Attorney General Jeff Sessions that brought private prisons back into play on the federal level. We pointed out that stocks for private prisons plummeted when then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates ordered they be phased out last year. We reminded you that the day after Trump’s election, those stocks soared. Now, we read in The Nation that in October, just before the election, two of Sessions’ former Senate aides, David Stewart and Ryan Robichaux, became lobbyists for GEO Group, one of the two largest private prison companies, and that the two were specifically engaged to lobby on government contracting.

The private prison industry has a big investment in the future of mass incarceration. Even more infuriating, much of that in the short term may be tied to immigration enforcement policies. “With respect to detention services,” said GEO Group CEO George Zoley on a recent call with investors, “we would continue to be the largest provider of detention services to the three largest government agencies—that is, ICE, the Bureau of Prisons, and the U.S. Marshals Service.”

David Dayen, writing for The Nation, said:

It’s not just that the Sessions memo is good news for the private-prison industry in general. It’s good for GEO Group in particular. That’s precisely the type of crony capitalism and picking of winners and losers that conservatives have paid lip service to wanting to prevent for years. In Trump’s America, success is just one well-chosen lobbyist away."

[dalton99a]

4. Exactly.

[flotsam]

5. Has it occurred to Jenius Jeff

that if I get 20 years for holding an ounce, and if he is then jailed for,oh say, treason...that I or someone in a like situation might show a special interest in the fresh fish???