{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://richmond.house.gov/press-release/richmond-lauds-holder%E2%80%99s-efforts-implement-prison-sentencing-reform", "Richmond Lauds Holder\u2019s Efforts to Implement Prison Sentencing Reform", "2013-08-13", "2013", "2013-08", "Democrat", "House", "LA", "Cedric Richmond", "R000588", "richmond.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Today, Congressman Cedric Richmond (LA-02), member on the House Committee on the Judiciary, sent the following letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder commending him for his recent decision to modify Justice Department policies that rigidly charge low-level, non-violent drug offenders with mandatory minimum sentences. In this letter, Congressman Richmond calls such policies, which disproportionately affect minorities and poor people, both egregious and draconian in nature.\nAugust 13, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u00a0\nThe Honorable Eric H. Holder\nAttorney General of the United States\nU.S. Department of Justice\n950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 1145\nWashington, DC 20530\n\u00a0\nDear Attorney General Holder:\nI write to applaud the Administration\u2019s decision to modify Justice Department policy to ensure that low-level non-violent drug offenders will no longer be charged with egregious and draconian mandatory minimum sentences. The Obama Administration deserves credit for continuing to seek improvements in US sentencing policy, as demonstrated by its advocacy for the reduction in the 100 to 1 sentencing disparity between crack and cocaine offenses back in 2010. I also applaud your accurate diagnosis that \u201cpeople of color often face harsher punishments than their peers\u201d and your related conclusion that this is a truly national priority because \u201ctoo many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement reason.\u201d I also firmly support your embrace of diversion programs such as drug treatment and community service that serve as alternatives to incarceration as a means of addressing these goals. The mandatory minimums policy shift is a welcome overture which will ensure that policy discussions regarding our imprisonment policy trend in a more positive direction.\nWhile I am happy to see progress in this area, more will be needed to ensure that the public safety, moral and fiscal implications of our imprisonment policies are sustainably improved. We must work together to turn your proposed changes, and others, into statute to ensure that they cannot be unilaterally overturned by a future administration. I stand as a willing partner and strong advocate in Congress on prison and sentencing reforms. This should be near the top of your agenda in light of the positive economic and fiscal impacts these reforms could have on local, state and national economies. Our current policies separate families, drain the local tax base, increase neighborhood unemployment and drain the Federal coffers at a moment of extreme fiscal restraint. \nI encourage you to continue to formally discuss legislation such as the Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013, of which I am a co-sponsor, so as to provide Judges with the requisite discretion to more swiftly advance the impact of sentencing reforms. \u00a0This is but one bill that is a part of a broader effort in Congress to pursue change in this area which will save taxpayer money while improving the lives of average Americans who may have erred in judgment. I also encourage you to be a more vocal advocate of expanding the amount of good time credits an inmate can earn and promoting compassionate release programming. Current law affords inmates the opportunity to earn up to 54 days of good time credit per year. You should publicly embrace the expansion of the credits by 14 to 100 days per year in order to accelerate the de-population of prisons and save taxpayers almost $10 billion over a ten year window. The compassionate release of older or infirm inmates would achieve a similar positive de-population and savings goal. \u00a0With your support of these and other policies, you will find allies on both sides of the aisle in both Chambers prepared to engage you in this terribly important conversation. \nIt is high time that we focus on keeping people out of jail by investing in economic and human capital development, instead of throwing hundreds of billions of dollars at the symptoms of the diseases of underinvestment and societal neglect. If we invested half of what we spend on our criminal justice system in schools and job training, the yield would be powerful and sustainable. I am excited about this decision and am eager to partner with you to ensure that this is but the first step on a journey to a more reasonable, efficient and impactful prison policy. \n\u00a0\nSincerely,\n\u00a0\nCedric L. Richmond\nMember of Congress", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://richmond.house.gov/press-release/richmond-lauds-holder%E2%80%99s-efforts-implement-prison-sentencing-reform"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8906968869268894, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}