Reply #10: There is a broad-based movement for sentencing reform.

[High Plains]

It includes many members of the congressional black caucus, whose constituents have been most adversely affected by the drug laws.

Yes, some of this is about judicial prerogatives vis a vis prosecutors, but that's fine with me. As things now stand, prosecutors wield way too much power and judges are reduced to what is basically a notary's role. We have mandatory minimums and sentencing guidelines because legislators in the '80s were worried about disparate sentences, but now the pendulum is swinging the other way.