Holder Backs Release of 5,500 Crack Offenders

The change could affect some 12,000 prisoners, but Holder’s advocating it be limited to the roughly 5,500 whose crimes did not involve weapons and who were not repeat offenders. “There is simply no just or logical reason why their punishments should be dramatically more severe than those of other cocaine offenders,” he argued. If the commission approves the plan, it’ll go into effect on Nov. 1, shaving an average three years off each prisoner’s time.