Righting old mistakes from the war on drugs
By almost any metric, the “war on drugs,” declared by President Nixon and ramped up under President Reagan, has been a dismal failure. Billions have been spent, and the benefits have been negligible, unless you’re a company that runs for-profit prisons.
The “war” has played a significant role in creating a permanent underclass among minority groups and imposing disproportionate prison sentences for nonviolent drug crimes, especially under since-scrapped sentencing guidelines that created much more punitive terms for those involved with crack cocaine. Much was spent on law enforcement, prosecutions and incarceration, relatively little on treatment. Just now are we slowly coming to the realization that decriminalization of marijuana likely carries more positives than negatives.
President Obama, recognizing the draconian nature of past drug sentences, this week granted commutations to nearly two dozen people serving federal terms – some of them life sentences – for drug convictions between 1992 and 2006.
“Because many were convicted under an outdated sentencing regime, they served years – in some cases more than a decade – longer than individuals convicted today of the same crime,” White House counsel Neil Eggleston said in a White House blog post.
This is not the first time the president has commuted a prisoner’s sentence, but it is the first time he has sent a letter to those being freed.
Said Obama, “I am granting your application because you have demonstrated the potential to turn your life around. Now it is up to you to make the most of this opportunity. It will not be easy, and you will confront many who doubt people with criminal records can change. Perhaps even you are unsure of how you will adjust to your new circumstances. But remember that you have the capacity to make good choices.”
Recidivism rates being what they are, it’s almost a certainty that some of those being granted a second chance will again make poor decisions and end up back behind bars. But it is our hope and belief that some will take advantage of this and not only make better lives for themselves but make a contribution to our society.
To us, it’s a chance worth taking, certainly better than spending millions to keep these people behind bars for years to come.