Attorney General Eric Holder has endorsed a proposal that would result in shorter prison sentences for certain nonviolent drug traffickers.
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Holder believes that the change in sentencing would cut federal prison costs and create a fairer criminal justice system, the Associated Press reports.
Holder appeared Thursday before the U.S. Sentencing Commission, where he announced his support for a proposal to lower the guideline penalties for certain drug crimes.
"This overreliance on incarceration is not just financially unsustainable, it comes with human and moral costs that are impossible to calculate," Holder said in excerpts of his testimony, obtained by the Associated Press in advance.
Holder stated that the harshest penalties should be reserved for "dangerous and violent drug traffickers."
This speech is consistent with Holder's broader push for prosecutors to stop charging many nonviolent drug defendants with offenses that carry mandatory minimum sentences, AP reports.
Read more at Associated Press.
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