Statement from State Senator Gustavo Rivera On U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions's Decision To Seek Maximum Sentences For Low Level Nonviolent Drug Offenses

“I’m disgusted and alarmed by the outrageous decision of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to put an end to a series of Obama-era policies that sought to implement more flexible sentencing laws for low level nonviolent drug offenses in an effort to reduce our country’s prison population, one of the highest in the world. This revamped 'War on Drugs' will force federal prosecutors to pursue deeply flawed and ineffective policies that, once again, will ravage low-income communities and communities of color while benefiting the immoral for-profit prison system. As opposed to this regressive step, we must all work diligently to put forth common sense measures that will effectively reform our criminal justice system so that it focuses on rehabilitation rather than merely on punishment.”