California must follow the Attorney General's lead

The ACLU of California issued the following statement in response to Attorney General Eric Holder’s speech today regarding major criminal law reforms. Peter Eliasberg, Legal Director of the ACLU of Southern California, said:

"California must follow the Attorney General’s lead. We must abandon the failed and costly policies of the past that have left far too many people locked up for far too long who don’t need to be kept behind bars to keep our families and communities safe. Now is the time to focus on front end sentencing reforms, especially for low-level, nonviolent drug crimes, that will reduce wasteful spending on incarceration and free up money for the kinds of rehabilitation, education and job training programs that will reduce crime and enhance public safety.”