The ink has barely dried on Jeff Sessions’ confirmation papers but he has made it clear that he will seek an aggressive roll back of criminal justice reforms that were put in place by former President Obama. Step one is a renewed focus on the “war on drugs” which resulted in a high mass incarceration rate during the 80’s and 90’s.
The war on drugs was assisted by the court system which began a disturbing trend of stripping citizens of their constitutional guaranteed right against unreasonable searches and seizures. The courts expanded and approved law enforcement tactics of vehicle searches, terry stops, stop and frisks, K-9 searches, home searches, and vehicle stops based on minimal standards of probable cause. Officers quickly seized on the rulings and expanded their use of discretionary stops of citizens, specifically in the inner city. Despite the increased enforcement, officers were routinely arresting low level dealers or users. These are the people who suffered the most under the war on drugs. Federal prosecutors sought indictments against low level dealers and charged them with conspiracy to distribute. Under this theory, the dealer on the street corner can be held liable for the quantities that his superior or supplier was dealing. The U.S. Attorney’s Office would threaten the dealer with a mandatory minimum drug law in order to get him/her to snitch on others. This tactic has led to false testimony and the incarceration of innocent citizens.
The controversial war on drugs resulted in America’s prison populations skyrocketing and an increase in related costs. Sessions’ policy has left many confused, because the country’s crime rate is at an all time low. The former administration’s agenda to reduce mandatory minimums and grant clemency to non-violent drug offenders who had served significant time sought to relieve two decades of a policy that ravaged inner city families and disproportionately targeted minorities and the poor. The disparate treatment of crack cocaine vs. powder cocaine was the clearest example of how the war on drugs was biased against the poor.
Moreover, there has been a slew of studies that concluded that the war on drugs did more harm than good. It has become evidently clear that the policy of over aggressive enforcement and sentencing for narcotics crimes was counter productive and has cost this country billions of dollars. The reforms to the criminal justice system which sought to relax some of the harsh punishments received bi-partisan support in Congress. It will be interesting to see what Congress’ take will be on Attorney General Sessions’ attempt to reboot the failed policy.
