Towards a Smarter Policing Strategy?

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Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced changes to the Federal policy in prosecuting drug crimes, basically getting Federal prosecutors to charge low-level offenders with less harsh crimes.  This action would essentially bypass the mandatory minimum sentencing rules whose primary accomplishment is to increase the already unsustainable numbers of Americans in prison.  This is a baby step in admitting that we've been losing the War on Drugs for a long time:
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced Monday that low-level, nonviolent drug offenders with no ties to gangs or large-scale drug organizations will no longer be charged with offenses that impose severe mandatory sentences. The new Justice Department policy is part of a comprehensive prison reform package that Holder unveiled in a speech to the American Bar Association in San Francisco. He also introduced a policy to reduce sentences for elderly, nonviolent inmates and find alternatives to prison for nonviolent criminals.

Open Thread for Tuesday, August 13, 2013

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The Newark Mayor, no not Corey Booker, but Vance Funk, is retiring earlier than originally indicated. He is now leaving office on September 30, rather than December 31.
[Deputy Mayor] Clifton – sitting in the mayor’s chair Funk has occupied since being elected in 2004 – said Funk changed the effective date of his resignation to accommodate the process for a special election in accordance with the city’s charter. Council will hold a special meeting on Sept. 30 to schedule the special election, which is expected to be held Nov. 26, Clifton said. Although Funk was not in attendance at Monday’s meeting, he made a statement in a city news release distributed immediately after Clifton’s announcement. “Considering that it is not in my best interest health wise to attend the many meetings between now and the end of the year and to allow the election process to move forward in a timely fashion, I determined September 30 to be an appropriate date for my term to end,” Funk said in the news release.