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Let us not sit still while Attorney General Jeff Sessions unleashes another Pandora's box of demons upon society that violates our civil and constitutional rights. He now wants to increase civil asset forfeitures by encouraging federal and local authorities to seize more property, including seizures without charging anyone with a crime!
Sessions' pick to sit on the U.S. Sentencing Commission is none-other than Judge Henry “Hang ‘Em High’ Hudson! This comes at a time when the public is hoping there will be a favorable recommendation by the Commission for another 2-point reduction in the Sentencing Guideline table. Early on, Sessions instructed prosecutors to charge and seek the most severe sentences for minor, non-violent drug offenses while erroneously claiming there is no such thing as a "low level drug offender" in federal custody. We know better and want you to know what we learned, the hard way.
The conspiracy law is used to indict most federal drug cases. Conspiracy ensnares people, especially wives and girlfriends on the fringe of drug activity, and holds them accountable for the actions of major drug dealers because conspiracy transfers guilt from one co-conspirator to another. Magically, when someone, including big time drug lords agree to testify or set up more people in a plea bargain, they no longer face a mandatory sentence even if they were caught with all the drugs, guns and have a long rap sheet! This is the ugly underbelly of the drug war that Jeff Sessions and other drug war advocates never talk about. Sessions wants the public to believe they are seeking harsh sentences for bad people when in reality, they cut deals with anyone willing to enter a plea bargain, including murderers! Imagine if your life was hanging in the balance, based on the testimony of a cooperating drug dealer who will get leniency based on their performance to convict others! Federal prosecutors no longer need tangible evidence in drug conspiracy cases. Defendants can be convicted on testimony alone!Recently, the DEA has asked to hire their own team of prosecutors, which exceeds the DEA's legal authority to prosecute cases with an emphasis on arrests, seizures and surveillance. This is a disturbing trend that does not reflect the will of the people or even the bi-partisan support for criminal justice reform.
Please sign our petition seeking the following resolution:
Jeff Sessions should reverse his directive to amp up the drug war by seeking the harshest sentences possible in drug cases, decrease civil asset forfeiture and embrace a rational smart on crime approach to the drug war such as, "Let the time fit the crime."
The opioid crisis should be treated as a medical issue that requires a policy focused on education, compassion and logic - not more arrests and convictions.
