There isn’t much support in Congress or within the federal criminal justice system for a major change in federal sentencing, although mandatory minimum sentencing laws have placed a strain on the federal prison system, disparately impact demographic groups and result in undue leniency for white collar crimes and some child exploitation offenses, the Justice Department told the U.S. Sentencing Commission yesterday, reports main Justice.com.
Pressed by commission members, U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates of Atlanta, the Justice Department’s spokesperson at the hearing, would not say which of the 170 mandatory minimums the department did not believe were necessary. She said the department's position was that the commission should recommend to congress which statutes should be revised.