Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Saying too many Americans are spending an excessive amount of time behind bars for drugs, the Justice Department is expected to announce a proposal today that would reduce some sentences and relieve overcrowded prisons, Reuters reports.
Attorney General Eric Holder is scheduled to deliver the speech at 9 a.m.
The change would impact about 70% of future drug trafficking defendants.
“Certain types of cases result in too many Americans going to prison for far too long, and at times for no truly good public safety reason,” Holder will tell the commission, according to an excerpt of his speech released ahead of time by the Justice Department.
According to a Justice Department estimate, the average sentence for federal drug offenders would decline from 62 months to 51 months.
