[HUFFPOO] On the morning of May 12, Attorney General Jeff Sessions revealed that he had instructed federal prosecutors to begin pursuing lengthier prison sentences for drug offenders.
It was a draconian change in approach that flew in the face of a growing bipartisan agreement on sentencing reform. "He’s completely discarded what has been an emerging consensus about how best to keep the country safe," said Matthew Miller, a former Department of Justice spokesman. "[O]ne of the most extreme voices in the country on criminal justice policy just happened to be put into the most important job for shaping its future."
The move was then largely buried under an avalanche of Donald Trump-related news.
Just hours after Sessions’ policy was revealed, the president tweeted that he may have taped conversations with his recently-fired FBI director, James Comey. With less than 140 characters, Washington was abuzz again over Trump’s potential ties to Russia, which Comey had been investigating. |