Families Against Mandatory Minimums has been at the forefront of the criminal justice reform movement since 1991. Its founder, Julie Stewart, created the organization after she saw firsthand how unjust the mandatory minimum sentences handed down by federal judges could be. Stewart’s brother Jeff was sentenced to five years in prison for having seeds for marijuana plants in his garage.
Since its inception, FAMM has worked tirelessly to educate both the public and politicians about the flawed laws enacted as a cornerstone of the equally flawed “War on Drugs.” FAMM has had many successes in its efforts to change unfair sentencing laws. FAMM was instrumental in getting the government to allow judges to use the “Safety Valve” measure to reduce the sentences of first-time, non-violent drug offenders. FAMM also fought valiantly to have the disparate and racist “crack cocaine’ laws changed.
On April 14, 2011 FAMM held a briefing in Washington D.C. “The Last Sacred Cow: How Congress Can Cut Criminal Justice Spending Without Compromising Public Safety” was presented by an esteemed, bi-partisan panel who discussed ways that the government can reduce the criminal justice system budget without reducing public safety. Some of the recommendations of FAMM and the panel include:
Congress should not only cease in the creation of new crimes, but should also not create any more mandatory minimum sentences (projected savings: millions of dollars)
Federal prisons should increase “good-time” credit from 47 days a year to 54 days a year (projected savings in the first year of implementation: $41 million)
The decision on eligibility for the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) in federal prisons should be made quickly and efficiently so that those who complete the program can get up to a year chopped off their sentence. As it stands now, inmates eligible for the program are not processed efficiently, and therefore lose out on obtaining the time off (projected savings: $44 million)
Do not build more federal prisons, but use alternatives to incarceration instead (projected saving: $304 million)
Make the Fair Sentencing Act (also know as the Crack Cocaine law) retroactive. If the Crack Cocaine law is unjust, as it was found to be, it is unjust to everyone sentenced under it, no matter in what year (projected savings: First year $170 million; over $2 billion in 30 or more years)
Use the compassionate release policy that is already in place to allow low- risk, chronically or critically ill inmates to be released from prison (projected savings: $65,000 annually per inmate)
Demand that the Bureau of Prisons give inmates more authorized half-way house time. The Second Chance Act allows the BOP to increase half-way house time from up to six months to up to twelve months (projected savings: $45 million annually)
Stop incarcerating low-level, non-violent offenders. Increasing the use of the Federal First Offender Act of 1987 would allow judges to sentence those convicted of a minor crime to probation. Sentencing guidelines should also include alternatives to incarceration (projected savings: $22,250 per inmate, per year, as FAMM calculates one year of probation versus one year of incarceration)
Allow non-violent, low-risk elderly prisons to be released on home confinement (projected savings: $60- 70,000 a year, per person)
Use specialty courts for low-level, non-violent drug offenders thereby avoiding mandatory minimum sentences (projected savings: $14 - 23,000 annually per person)
Use the “Safety Valve” in all mandatory minimum sentences, rather than in just a small amount of drug offenses (projected savings: $26,000 annually per person)
FAMM’s assessment that billions of dollars can be saved, without risking a threat to public safety, is seen by those seeking criminal justice reform as a sensible and practical way to end the unnecessary waste of money and lives.
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