Senate Judiciary Committee with mandatory minimums hearing

September 18 at 10:00 am Eastern: “Reevaluating the Effectiveness of Federal Mandatory Minimum Sentences”

Witness List

  • The Honorable Rand Paul, United States Senator, State of Kentucky
  • The Honorable Brett Tolman, Shareholder, Ray Quinney & Nebeker, Salt Lake City, UT
  • Marc Levin, Policy Director, Right on Crime Initiative at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Austin, TX
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6 Responses to Senate Judiciary Committee with mandatory minimums hearing

  1. claygooding says:

    The prison industry must be reeling right now,,a careful watch of the stock markets may show investors dumping stocks on the market,,where is our couch market analysts when you need them,,,,you guys quit hitting that bong and scan the market for falling prison stocks……

  2. Howard says:

    Although the Right on Crime Initiative at the Texas Public Policy Foundation is based in the state where I live, I admit to not knowing anything about them. I found this information on their site. Sounds like a mixed bag to me. (http://tinyurl.com/lfckc35);

    • Consider eliminating many mandatory minimum sentencing laws for nonviolent offenses. These laws remove all discretion from judges who are the most intimately familiar with the facts of a case and who are well-positioned to know which defendants need to be in prison because they threaten public safety and which defendants would in fact not benefit from prison time.

    • For those instances when prisons are necessary, explore private prison options. A study by The Reason Foundation indicated that private prisons offer cost savings of 10 to 15 percent compared to state-operated facilities. By including an incentive in private corrections contracts for lowering recidivism and the flexibility to innovate, private facilities could potentially not just save money but also compete to develop the most cost-effective recidivism reduction programming.

    ———

    It’s odd that there’s a description of offering incentives to for profit prisons to reduce recidivism. I would think profit driven prisons would welcome recidivism to keep the beds nicely stocked. Would the incentives be ‘bonuses’ for reducing recidivism? And thereby possibly reducing the savings over state run facilities? I wonder…

    Elsewhere on their site, this organization questions whether prison is always the right fit for every crime, but they are also a big fan of drug courts. Again, I wonder…

    They claim they represent the conservative approach. Many, many years ago I gave up on the notions of ‘conservative’ or ‘liberal’ approaches to anything. It’s like picking between poisons. I like the word ‘smart’ but that word doesn’t have the luster it used to (thanks SAM).

    • stlgonzo says:

      Grit for Breakfast which is linked on the side of this page is a great blog about the criminal justice system in Texas.

      • kaptinemo says:

        And I heartily agree. I don’t normally endorse blogs, but ‘Grits’ has been sounding the clarion call for years about just how deep the corruption engendered by the DrugWar runs in our legal system, and how much damage the cartels could do to this country if we allow prohibition to stand. Real ‘boots on the ground’, ‘front-line’ blogging. Well worth the read.

  3. N.T. Greene says:

    Gosh! They got me quite the birthday present this year.

    I’ve asked people for the past few years to just make donations in my name as gifts, but now I have my own Senate Judiciary hearing about mandatory minimum sentences?

    26 is going to be a good age, I can tell already.

  4. thelbert says:

    congressional mandatory intelligence minimums should apply. i’d settle for smarter than a stump.

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