Holder’s move on mandatory minimums a boon to Rand Paul

[jct74]

Holder’s move on mandatory minimums a boon to Rand Paul

By Aaron Blake
August 12 at 10:03 am

Monday’s announcement that Attorney General Eric Holder will seek to get rid of mandatory minimum sentences for some low-level drug offenders could soon create some interesting bedfellows.

Reforming mandatory minimums is an issue that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been pushing (no pun intended) for a while now — including during an appearance at the historically black Howard University earlier this year.

A Paul staffer said the potential 2016 presidential candidate, who has already proposed a bill giving judges more leeway in sentencing drug offenders below the mandatory minimums, will work with the Obama administration on the issue.

“This is already a bipartisan issue, led in the Senate by Sens. Paul, (Pat) Leahy, (Mike) Lee and (Dick) Durbin,” said the staffer, granted anonymity to discuss strategy. “Sen. Paul believes strongly in this issue and that we must find a solution. He is pleased to work with all who agree and want to push forward.”

The aide also said that there has been contact between Paul and the administration.

...

If Paul can work with these senators and the administration to get something done on mandatory minimum sentences, he can credibly claim that he took the lead on a major issue and got something bipartisan done — without the same potential for blowback that Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) illegal immigration reform effort has produced, for instance.

Much work remains to be done, but if Congress winds up passing legislation to rein in mandatory minimum sentencing, Paul stands to gain plenty.

read more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/08/12/holders-move-on-mandatory-minimums-a-boon-to-rand-paul/

[jct74]

press release from Rand


Sen. Paul Statement Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Reform

Aug 12, 2013

Sen. Rand Paul today released the following statement in anticipation of Attorney General Eric Holder's speech regarding reforms to federal drug sentencing policies.

"I am encouraged that the President and Attorney General agree with me that mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent offenders promote injustice and do not serve public safety. I look forward to working with them to advance my bipartisan legislation, the Justice Safety Valve Act, to permanently restore justice and preserve judicial discretion in federal cases. I introduced this legislation in March with Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy as a legislative fix to the very problem Attorney General Holder discussed today.

"The Administration's involvement in this bipartisan issue is a welcome development. Now the hard work begins to change the law to permanently address this injustice.

http://www.paul.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=919

[Brett85]

I'm glad that Mike Lee is on board with this as well.

[PatriotOne]

Interesting development. I'm thinking maybe Rand has forced the Presidents hand. Maybe they didn't like that the Repubs had something to gain voter wise by this kind of legislation coming solely out of the Repubs? Also interesting that Gupta's pot film just aired also. Coincidence? I think not. Not sure what the new motivation is but I like the trend.

[JK/SEA]

Interesting development. I'm thinking maybe Rand has forced the Presidents hand. Maybe they didn't like that the Repubs had something to gain voter wise by this kind of legislation coming solely out of the Repubs? Also interesting that Gupta's pot film just aired also. Coincidence? I think not. Not sure what the new motivation is but I like the trend.


so does that mean you're coming over to smoke a doob with me?...lol...we can light one up in honor of Kokesh..

HempFest next week.....c'mon, i know ya wanna go...

[thoughtomator]

If the Republicans let legalization become a Democratic-owned issue I am going to strangle people.

[JK/SEA]

If the Republicans let legalization become a Democratic-owned issue I am going to strangle people.


why?...i'm just happy as hell this is happening, and i don't care who is out front on this. You can blame socialcons for delaying the inevitable....screw em.

[Brett85]

If the Republicans let legalization become a Democratic-owned issue I am going to strangle people.

Actually, even Rand is letting that happen to an extent. He's even said that he doesn't support fully legalizing marijuana. I personally think that's a strategic mistake. Most social conservatives don't care about that issue, and coming out in favor of marijuana legalization would help greatly with younger people.

[whoisjohngalt]

Actually, even Rand is letting that happen to an extent. He's even said that he doesn't support fully legalizing marijuana. I personally think that's a strategic mistake. Most social conservatives don't care about that issue, and coming out in favor of marijuana legalization would help greatly with younger people.

He has said though that it's a state's rights issue and he supports the right of each state to decide what is best for them. Which is tantamount to legalization without shoving it down everyone's throat at once. It demonstrates that he is both a state's rights advocate and realize what a tremendous failure the drug war is, at the same time. In the general, I would like to see a more aggressive shift toward regulation/decriminalization. But in the primary, I think this is the perfect strategy.

[neoreactionary]

Actually, even Rand is letting that happen to an extent. He's even said that he doesn't support fully legalizing marijuana. I personally think that's a strategic mistake. Most social conservatives don't care about that issue, and coming out in favor of marijuana legalization would help greatly with younger people.

I think you underestimate the extent to which coming out for legalization could hurt him in Iowa. Nationwide, you're probably right that fully supporting legalization wouldn't hurt him too bad, but he really does need to defend his right flank in that crucial early state, and Cruz would have no problems attacking him on the issue if it came to that.

Nevertheless, I'm still hoping he shifts his stance at some point between now and 2016. I think it's both the right thing to do and politically smart in the long term, even if it does cost him a bit at first. Pot legalization + opposition to the death penalty would probably do wonders to combat charges of racism from the left and could even conceivably lead to winning a few African-American voters on the margin.

[Warlord]

Very interesting to see what happens. As the article said it shows he can get something done

[Brett85]

In the general, I would like to see a more aggressive shift toward regulation/decriminalization. But in the primary, I think this is the perfect strategy.

I think he runs the risk of sounding like a flip flopper if he actually takes a different position in a general election than he takes in the primary. I think it's better politically to be seen as consistent and not a political opportunist or flip flopper.

[surf]

I'm glad that Mike Lee is on board with this as well.
how about Rubio and Cruz? McWar and Lindsey?

I don't care who's on board, I just hope this decrim thing continues to trend (and eventually leads to some reduction in expenditures and a bit of goodwill with our Latin neighbors).

[Brett85]

how about Rubio and Cruz? McWar and Lindsey?

I don't care who's on board, I just hope this decrim thing continues to trend (and eventually leads to some reduction in expenditures and a bit of goodwill with our Latin neighbors).

Yeah, it seems to me that thus far Cruz isn't as good as Lee on the issues.

[T.hill]

Rand said he isn't for the legalization of all drugs during an Iowa press conference to differentiate in himself from Ron in some way.

However I've never heard him come out against the legalization of marijuana.

[jtstellar]

Rand said he isn't for the legalization of all drugs during an Iowa press conference to differentiate in himself from Ron in some way.

However I've never heard him come out against the legalization of marijuana.

can something be illegal yet invoke no penalty?

that's how rand is more political than ron in some regard. and behold, he is already working on penalties, dragging white house along with it. this was a major muscle flex he did by inference of white house choosing to work with him on this subject just days ago