SACRAMENTO – California Attorney General Xavier Becerra joined District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine and attorneys general from 13 other states in calling for U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to rescind harsh new instructions for Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors that would make our communities less, not more, safe. Building on California’s commitment to advancing forward-leaning values, the attorneys general also requested a meeting with Sessions to discuss smarter, data-driven approaches to criminal justice policy.
“I am deeply troubled by Attorney General Sessions’ decision to pursue ‘the most serious’ penalties in all cases,” said Attorney General Becerra. “We’ve been down that rigid path before and know it doesn’t make sense. In fact, we’ve seen the damage it can do, especially to young men of color, who are locked up at disproportionate rates. I will work hard with law enforcement leaders in California to ensure that we employ proven policies and the best practices to keep our people safe. Californians deserve to know that we’ve got their backs.”
“There is simply no evidence to support the notion that these kinds of tough-on-crime guidelines are effective at anything other than ballooning prison populations and budgets,” Attorney General Racine said. “We are urging Attorney General Sessions not to turn back the clock, but rather to look to a bipartisan consensus in support of smart policies associated with reductions in prison populations, declining crime rates, and lower costs to government.”
In a letter sent to Attorney General Sessions, the attorneys general write that “there is a strong and bipartisan national consensus that the harsh sentencing practices reflected in the new DOJ policy announced last week do not increase public safety, and that consensus is supported by strong data.” Additionally, they say that “the new DOJ policy runs contrary not only to this consensus, but also to basic principles of equal justice and sound fiscal policy.”
Joining Attorneys General Racine and Attorney General Becerra in the letter are attorneys general from Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington state.AG
6 comments
God shut the F up, you’re a crook and fraud, after disrespecting our president daily with Boonbeam Brown, you think Sessions will give you the time of day moron. You just want criminals out because they vote for you crooked Democraps!
While America was throwing mud at one another over the next best unsavory statement coming from the mouth of Trump, the puritanical Christian-Right was using the presidential cabinet as its Trojan horse. Harsher, longer prison sentences are simply ideological extensions of the belief in an everlasting hell as punishment for evildoers. Most American policy is structured in this way; our current surveillance state can even be attributed to the belief in an omnipresent, all-knowing God. All of the lunacy we see from this new presidency is simply old school Theocrats tugging at the reigns of power once again.
Are you kidding me!! Time for you to get a real job!!
Seems odd with the article above about another group of young kids shooting someone from a car. I also believe Antioch cops are getting tired of arresting the same people over and over again. California laws are NOT fixing crime.
I would rather see Jimmy, Jesus, and so many others every 10 years get picked up on warrants than every two weeks. Anyone living in Antioch and obeying the laws can see this Attorney General is wrong. Lighter sentences is not working for the city of Antioch.
IF YOUR GOING TO DO THE CRIME THEN YOU NEED TO SERVE THE TIME, SIMPLE ENOUGH…..
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