Notable quotables on criminal justice issues from AG-nominee Merrick Garland during his confirmation hearing
This new Reuters piece provides some choice quotes from U.S. Attorney General Nominee Garland on criminal justice policies during his Senate confirmation hearing today. I sense advocates of criminal justice reform will be pleased with these comments:
DEATH PENALTY
Garland told Congress he used to support the death penalty, including the execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, a case he prosecuted. He said his views have evolved due to concerns about executing innocent people and its disparate impact on communities of color.
“I have had a great pause about the death penalty. I am very concerned about the large number of exonerations that have occurred through DNA evidence and otherwise,” he said. “The data is clear that it has an enormously disparate impact on Black Americans and members of communities of color.”
MARIJUANA PROSECUTIONS
Garland revealed he will not seek to prioritize marijuana possession prosecutions. “We can focus our attention on violent crimes and other crimes that put great danger in our society, and not allocate our resources to some things like marijuana possession.”
ON SENTENCING REFORM
“We should do as, as President Biden has suggested, seek the elimination of mandatory minimum. So that we once again give authority to district judges and trial judges to make determinations based on all of the sentencing factors that judges normally apply.”
“We don’t have to seek highest possible offense with the highest possible sentence. ... Legislatively, we should look at equalizing ... what’s known as the crack powder ratio, which has had an enormously disproportionate impact on communities of color.”
This CNN article about the hearings suggests that Garland is on his way to being confirmed as the next U.S. Attorney General, and it will be interesting to see just how he goes about operationalizing these sentiments though DOJ's work and through advocacy to Congress.
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