Michael Mukasey’s turning out to be a barrel of fun. First there was the whole waterboarding thingy last week about how he couldn’t possibly prosecute anyone who tortured anybody else because, well, the DOJ (secretly) approved it.
But turns out he IS ready to be oh-so-tough in holding the line against the rampaging hoards of low-level drug offenders. Here’s the deal:
Last fall the US Sentencing Commission voted unanimously to make retroactive its decision to reduce the recommended mandatory minimum for possession of crack cocaine, bringing it more in line with the penalties for powder cocaine. In response, last week, Mukasey took it into his head to decide that he knew better.
In his testimony before Congress Thursday, Mukasey urged lawmakers to pass a law preventing the changed minimums from applying retroactively. He warned that “nearly 1,600 convicted crack dealers, many of them violent gang members, will be eligible for immediate release into communities nationwide.”
Only one teensy weensy problem with Mukasey’s statement. It wasn’t true—as a quick glance at the Sentencing Commission’s original press release outlining the plan for retroactivity makes clear.
Here’s what the NAACP had to say:
“Attorney General Mukasey’s characterization of people currently in prison for crack cocaine convictions, and of the impact that a potential reduction in their sentences could have on our communities, is not only inaccurate and disingenuous, but it is alarmist and plays on the worst fears and stereotypes many Americans had of crack cocaine users in the 1980s,” said NAACP Washington Bureau Director Hilary O. Shelton.
The New York Times weighed in as well this past weekend in an excellent editorial
Under current federal law, people convicted of selling 5 grams of crack — most often used in impoverished, minority areas — face the same five-year mandatory minimum sentence as offenders caught selling 500 grams of the powdered cocaine popular with more upscale users. This 100-to-1 rule is a legacy of the 1980s, when it was erroneously believed that crack was much more dangerous than the chemically identical powder. Congress made crack cocaine the only drug that carries a mandatory minimum sentence for possession — even for first-time offenders.
For more than a decade, the sentencing commission, which is the bipartisan body that sets guidelines for federal prison sentences, has been urging Congress to address the sentencing disparity. Using its own authority, the commission last year adopted new guidelines aimed at giving crack cocaine offenders a shot at marginally reducing their time in prison. The Bush administration objects to the commission’s recent decision to make those changes retroactive.
Mr. Mukasey warned that unless Congress acts quickly to severely narrow eligibility, “1,600 convicted crack dealers, many of them violent gang members, will be eligible for immediate release into communities nationwide.” That is a distortion.
Mukasey isn’t a stupid man. He’s read the the commission’s decision and knows that no such mass releases would take place. The sky is not falling. But any chance to paint the Democrats as soft on crime….hey, I guess he’d better take it. Screw the lives of those affected.
(Oh, yeah, and there are one or two democrats who are willing to engage in similar political games around this issue.)
As usual, Doug Berman at Sentencing Law and Policy has been all over this issue from the beginning.
Celeste: Only one teensy weensy problem with Mukasey’s statement. It wasn’t true.
Here’s what the NAACP had to say….
The New York Times weighed in as well this past weekend in an excellent editorial….
Wait. Let me get this straight. The U.S. Attorney General is a liar, but the NAACP and The NY Times are credible sources?! Oh, Celeste. If you want to call A.G. Maukasey a liar, you need better alternate sources and facts than those which have an ax to grind and have been found to come up with some pretty good lies of their own.
Woody, I’m not taking anyone’s word for it. I’m simply stating the facts as presented by the sentencing commission itself, which is the body that worked out the system. Here’s the summary:
http://www.ussc.gov/PRESS/rel121107.htm
If it makes you feel better, it’s not just Mukasey. Hillary Clinton (as I’ve written before here and at Huff Post), has also used the issue as a political football. Follow that link about the dems and you’ll find the story.
Celeste, the Sentencing Commission does not offer an estimate of how many dangerous felons would be released under the program. It doesn’t know, but some slip through–with special thanks to liberal judges. I don’t know where anyone gets such statistics, but their news release of one page does not contradict what the Atty. Gen. said. It’s anyone’s guess. Maybe it’s like saying the Jena 6 should be released with no danger to society and then finding that one of them attacked another student last week.
Once again, it comes down to Logic 101. Mukasey is making the claim. He is duty bound to provide evidence to prove his claim, including where he came up with those numbers.
This comment underscores why Mukasey is fearmongering:
If Mukasey can’t back upo his claims with proof and facts, then he is pulling numbers out of his ass. Allow me to quote Ronald Reagan: Put up or shut up.
Public Speaking 101 – Do not ruin your talk or bore your audience with continuous footnotes, which can be provided if later asked, just for the sake of some liberal who whines for them and tries to divert the discussion.
Woody, you still can’t address the substance of what I wrote. Nice try to divert the discussion, but again, Mukasey needs to put up or shut up.