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Eric Schneiderman Retweeted CNN
Jeff Sessions's mass incarceration policy buys nothing more than tough-on-crime talking points at the cost of taxpayers and people of color.
To understand where we’re going, it’s important to take stock of where we’ve been. There’s no better example than New York.
In 2009, I was the primary sponsor of the bill that finally repealed New York’s draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws.
The Rockefeller Laws eliminated judges’ sentencing discretion and required them to impose harsh prison sentences on drug offenders.
By 2009, over 21% of NY’s prison population had been locked up for drug offenses. 42% of those people were locked up for possession alone.
This cost New Yorkers over $525 million per year in criminal justice costs. And the data showed it did nothing to make us safer.
As we voted to reform the Rockefeller Laws, one of my State Senate colleagues stood and predicted crime would go up. He was wrong.
In the years since we’ve repealed the drug laws, NY’s prison population has dropped. Recidivism has dropped. Crime is down.
Repealing the Rockefeller Laws was not just humane. It was common sense. And it kicked off a nationwide trend of more humane drug law
I opposed Sessions’ nomination because it was clear he'd try to return to the politics of fear over fact. He’s affirmed my worst concerns.