Editorial: Both parties get behind new stance on nonviolent crime

Revising the nation’s harsh sentences for nonviolent offenses has united forces on the left and right. Let’s hope the commutations announced Monday by President Obama will be treated as part of that process, rather than political blood in the water.

The president issued 46 commutations for nonviolent drug offenders, bringing his total to 89. His two immediate predecessors commuted 72 sentences, combined. But before the sharks circle, they should study up on evolution of the issue and take note that White House candidates from both parties believe the nation’s lock-’em-up strategy has become counterproductive.

In Congress, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., have teamed up on the Corrections Act, which lowers federal sentences for low-risk offenders and aims to keep them from returning once they’re released.

Liberals and conservatives have also co-signed the Smarter Sentencing Act, which gives judges more sentencing flexibility in cases involving nonviolent drug offenses. Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, both GOP presidential candidates, are on board. Paul and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., have joined forces to push the Redeem Act, which aims to reduce the recidivism rate by expunging some offenses from criminal records to aid the search for employment.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission has eased guidelines for some nonviolent offenses, and the Justice Department has urged local jurisdictions to reform its sentences, too.

Those receiving commutations will go free in November. Most of them were serving sentences of at least 20 years for drug-related offenses. Fourteen of them had life sentences. The convictions occurred as government cracked down harshly on offenses related to drugs, particularly crack and cocaine. A couple of the offenders were trafficking in marijuana, which is now legal in some states, including Washington.

All of the offenders who will be freed were sentenced before the Fair Sentencing Act was passed in 2010. That law ended the disparity in sentencing for the use of crack vs. the powder form cocaine, which had a disproportionate impact on minorities.

Both political parties have come to view the tough-on-crime era as counterproductive and expensive. A continuation of those policies would have meant massive jail and prison construction for a nation that already locks up an inordinate percentage of its population. Each federal prisoner costs taxpayers an average $29,000 a year.

The justice system is transitioning to a more humane and cost-effective system of getting offenders the services they need, whether it’s drug counseling or mental health services, so they won’t reoffend and return to a cell.

Spokane County is benefiting from a bipartisan push to do the same.

The commutations are not a “soft-on-crime” symbol. They’re a demonstration that wiser policies have gained broad support.