Yesterday, I noted that, contrary to what Eric Holder told Congress, the so-called Smarter Sentencing Act does not "restore discretion" to judges. The main thing it does is cut the minimum sentences applicable to dealers in heroin and other extremely dangerous drugs. But the sentences would still be mandatory.
It occurs to me that I omitted to mention another whooper Mr. Holder told almost in the same breath. He testified that the SSA "will ensure that the toughest penalties are reserved for the most dangerous or violent drug traffickers."
One has only to read the text of the proposed Act (Sec. 4 in particular) to see that this stands the truth on its head. The Act gives the biggest breaks to the most dangerous (and repeat) offenders. Thus, for the relative small fry, the reduction is 3 years, from a mandatory minimum of 5 to a mandatory minimum of 2. But for the really bad actors, the reduction is 10 years, from 20 to 10, or more than three times as much.
With math like that, perhaps Mr. Holder's next job will be in the Indiana Legislature.
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