Obama and Holder Want To Empty Federal Prisons

In keeping with his Liberal ideology that criminals are not responsible for their criminal activities, President Barack Obama is preparing to make a far-reaching use of his power to grant commutations to federal "non-violent" drug convicts who have served "long" sentences. According to a Politico article, Attorney General Eric Holder said on April 21, 2014, "The White House has indicated it wants to consider additional clemency applications, to restore a degree of justice, fairness, and proportionality for deserving individuals who do not pose a threat to public safety. The Justice Department is committed to recommending as many qualified applicants as possible for reduced sentences." This is the same Justice Department that put these well-deserving people in prison. In a video AG Holder released, he said, "There's still too many people in federal prisons who were sentenced under the old regime, and who as a result will have to spend far more time in prison then if they would if sentenced today for exactly the same crime." AG Holder is referring to the federal Sentencing Guidelines enacted by Congress in 1987. The guidelines were a game-changer that substantially upped the ante for those people inclined to smuggle, distribute, or sell drugs. The guidelines required judges to look at each convicted defendant individually, taking in to account his past criminal history, the role he played in the drug crime, the type and amount of drugs involved, and if he used any special skills to accomplish the goal of the conspiracy. The guidelines, coupled with mandatory minimum sentences, and the abolishment of federal parole, resulted in drug dealers receiving in some cases, life sentences instead of only a five year maximum sentence in which the convict was eligible for parole within 18 months. The only way to get out from underneath the guidelines was for the defendant to cooperate with investigators to identify other members of their drug conspiracies; and many did, resulting in a steady rise in federal prison populations. Substantially increasing prison terms for persons who possessed a firearm in conjunction with a drug crime resulted in an immediate reduction of the use of firearms. In the 1980s, many drug dealers in the era of "Miami Vice" and "Scarface," emulated the shootings and violence they saw on television and the movies. Yet, AG Holder probably believes that a drug dealer who possessed a gun at the time of his arrest is a "non-violent" drug offender because he didn't kill anyone. Liberals have continuously attacked the guidelines, and have successfully watered them down over the years. Now, the President and the Attorney General want to release drug dealers for time already served. Thus, they are going around Congress once again, whose role it is to set sentences, in order to get what they want. The president has made it known that he thinks marijuana is no worse than smoking cigarettes, and he refuses to enforce federal drug laws where states, like Colorado and Washington, have made it legal to smoke the drug "recreationally." AG Holder has already directed his 92 United States Attorneys to no longer file charges against defendants facing mandatory minimum sentences. President Obama and AG Holder are the best friends a drug dealer ever had. Make no mistake about it, persons convicted of a federal drug crimes are the most prolific drug traffickers in the world. There should be no expectation that they will not return to the life of crime. The mass release of convicted federal drug traffickers will pose a significant threat to "public safety." These same Liberals who want to open prison cells to release drug dealers also want to restore their right to vote. What better way is there to pick up political supporters? Instead of releasing so-called "non-violent" drug dealers from federal prisons, why not send all the illegal aliens locked up back to their home countries? Deporting illegal aliens in California State prisons and county jails would immediately relieve overcrowding.