A Washington Post editorial takes issue with the Justice Department’s limited endorsement of the retroactivity of reduce penalties for crack as established by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Whereas the Justice Department wants to limited retroactivity to crack offender’s without gun charges, the post recognizes that:
The most important reason to set aside the Justice Department’s approach is fairness. The old crack laws were draconian — and that is true whether they were applied to a first-time offender or to someone who also was found to be in possession of a weapon…Moreover, no sentence could be reduced until a judge evaluates an inmate’s record and signs off on the reduction. The judge would have the authority to reduce only the penalties associated with the crack violations; penalties for other offenses, including gun infractions, would remain intact.
Read the entire Editorial here »
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