Task force: End mandatory minimums to cut prison population

A bipartisan congressional task force is recommending that the federal justice system move away from its “one size fits all” approach to dealing with criminals, in order to reduce the prison population.

The 132-page report from the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections said unnecessary mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes represent the “primary driver” of mass incarceration and a corrections system that’s growing more expensive. Instead, the report recommends those sentences be reserved for drug kingpins and violent offenders.