Durbin Discusses Importance Of Modernizing Federal Drug Sentencing Policy

Press Release

With prison populations skyrocketing over the last several decades and almost half of the nation's federal inmates serving sentences for drug offenses, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today discussed the urgent need to reform federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws for nonviolent drug offenses. Durbin discussed the Smarter Sentencing Act, a bipartisan bill he introduced earlier this year, which would modernize federal drug sentencing laws by giving federal judges more discretion in sentencing defendants convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. Last month, President Obama highlighted sentencing reform as one of his top priorities--urging Congress to address the inequities in the federal criminal justice system.

"Once seen as a strong deterrent, mandatory sentences for nonviolent drug offenses have too often been unfair, fiscally irresponsible and a threat to public safety," Durbin said. "Given tight budgets and overcrowded prison cells, judges should be given more authority to conduct an individualized review in sentencing certain drug offenders and not be bound to outdated laws that have been ineffective and cost taxpayers billions. Being tough on crime doesn't mean simply voting reflexively for ever-harsher punishments, no matter the cost or consequences. Being tough on crime means being tough on failed criminal justice policies."

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