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by Micah J. Fleck
According to Rare:
Sen. Rand Paul has been one of the leading voices for criminal justice reform throughout his entire senate career, particularly of eliminating what he sees as draconian mandatory minimum sentencing laws. When Attorney General Jeff Sessions made it public on Friday that he would direct federal prosecutors to seek the harshest sentences for non-violent drug offenders, the announcement drew a quick rebuke from Sen. Paul.
“Mandatory minimum sentences have unfairly and disproportionately incarcerated too many minorities for too long,” said Sen. Paul in a statement. “Attorney General Sessions’ new policy will accentuate that injustice.”
Paul added, “Instead, we should treat our nation’s drug epidemic as a health crisis and less as a ‘lock ‘em up and throw away the key’ problem.”…
Sen. Paul wrote in a USA Today op-ed in 2013, “Mandatory minimums most harm those lacking in the means to defend themselves. These laws disproportionately target the poor and minorities.”
“Getting rid of mandatory minimums simply means allowing judges to use their discretion in sentencing, rather than having to follow the current, draconian federal parameters that are totally detached from the very human situation at hand,” Paul added.
Paul also noted, “A report released recently by the American Civil Liberties Union revealed that nationally, blacks were four times as likely as whites to be arrested for marijuana possession. It also indicated that these unfortunate numbers were true despite the fact that marijuana use is about the same for both black and white Americans.”
Is this Senator Paul’s new claim to fame? He has been at this issue for some time now, and it always wins bipartisan support. Not to mention it is objectively noble across the board. Word of advice to Senator Paul: if you run for president again… Run on this, not on your weird, divisive “black market baby parts” mantra.
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