With mandatory minimum sentences, large quantities of drugs can force judges to impose stiff sentences — 10 years for a kilogram of heroin, five kilograms of cocaine or 1,000 kilograms of marijuana.
Where a defendant does not have a significant criminal history or gang ties, he said, prosecutors should avoid triggering mandatory minimum sentences, which are pegged to drug quantities, by leaving those quantities out of the charges.
If the defendant met certain criteria ― if their conduct didn't involve violence, if they weren't a leader, if they didn't have significant ties to gangs or drug trafficking organizations, and if they didn't have a significant criminal history ― Holder instructed them not to charge the quantities that would trigger mandatory minimum sentences.
The initiative directed prosecutors filing drug charges not to include information — such as the quantity of drugs seized — which might trigger stringent mandatory minimum sentences when bringing charges against nonviolent individuals not linked to gangs or large-scale drug organizations.
Under federal sentencing laws adopted in the 1980s, drug crimes may be subject to mandatory minimum sentences of five or 10 years depending on the quantities of drugs involved, which can be reached by adding up small amounts from several deals.
In cases where a defendant has been charged but guilt has not yet been determined, prosecutors will be directed to file replacement criminal complaints to eliminate references to specific quantities of drugs that would trigger a mandatory minimum sentence were the defendant to be convicted, according to a three-page Justice Department memorandum from Mr. Holder to federal prosecutors.
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Thursday expanded its effort to curtail severe penalties for low-level federal drug offenses, ordering prosecutors to refile charges against defendants in pending cases and strip out any references to specific quantities of illicit substances that would trigger mandatory minimum sentencing laws.
The Apprendi ruling raised the further question of whether judges could continue to impose mandatory minimum sentences based on their own determination of such facts as the quantity of drugs involved in a narcotics case.
Holder announced new measures to limit the use of mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders by urging prosecutors not to necessarily list the quantity of drugs seized when drawing up federal charges, so as to avoid triggering automatic prison terms.
In 2013, Mr. Holder further directed federal prosecutors to avoid seeking mandatory minimum sentences, suggesting that in certain cases they omit details about drug quantities from charging documents so as not to prompt automatically harsh penalties.
The law placed the quantity of crack that triggered the laws' five- and 10-year mandatory minimum sentences at 100 times lower than what was required for offenses involving powder cocaine, a substance pharmacologically similar to crack.
