Lawyers’ Committee Responds to Policy Changes Enacted by Attorney General Jeff Sessions Extending Mandatory Minimum Sentences for Low-Level Drug Offenses
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, released the following statement in response to a new directive issued by Attorney General Jeff Sessions instructing federal prosecutors to pursue long sentences for low-level offenders:
“The War on Drugs in our country was a failure. Mandatory minimum sentences for low-level, nonviolent drug offenses perpetuate racial disparities in the criminal justice system, hurt families and communities, and exacerbate the mass incarceration crisis across our country. We reject Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s outdated and discriminatory tough-on-crime tactics.”
About The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
The Lawyers’ Committee, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. The Lawyers’ Committee celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013 as it continued its quest of “Moving America Toward Justice.” The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law, particularly in the areas of fair housing and fair lending, community development, employment, voting, education and environmental justice. For more information about the Lawyers’ Committee, visit www.lawyerscommittee.org.
Contact:
Derrick Robinson
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
