RETHINK LONG, MANDATORY DRUG SENTENCES

To those who know Reed Prior, he seemed the last person who would be
sentenced to life in federal prison. To those who know George W.
Bush's reputation, he seemed the last president who would set Prior
free in an act of mercy. Yet, both happened, and the irony reveals
injustice not just in one case but in criminal sentencing in general.

Prior, 59, was granted a rare commutation by President Bush two days
before Christmas, which means Prior will soon leave a federal prison
in Greenville, Ill., a free man. Without that presidential act, Prior
would have spent the remainder of his life in prison. Many people -
including a who's who list in Iowa business and political circles -
urged the president to act. They were moved not only by Prior's
otherwise exemplary life but also by what seemed to them an unjustly
excessive penalty for the crime of selling illegal drugs.

State and federal prisons house 1.6 million inmates, many of them for
drug-related crimes (more than half of federal prisoners and a fifth
of state prisoners, according to recent statistics). For most
Americans, these figures are an abstraction. But for those who have
a relative or a friend among these numbers, the system is a tragedy.
What these people need most is help in changing their lives. At great
taxpayer cost, the criminal-justice system often does just the
opposite: A felony conviction and prison time are a life sentence to
the economic underclass.

The U.S. government tried the treatment approach for a while -
curiously enough during the Nixon administration - yet Congress and
subsequent presidents from both parties have foolishly returned with
a vengeance to using criminal laws and long prison sentences as the
primary weapon in the war on drugs. This strategy has harmed
thousands of individuals, their families and their
communities.

One of the biggest missteps has been growth of "mandatory minimum"
sentences. This one-size-fits-all justice has led to long
imprisonment for people like Prior. Though many are outraged at the
idea that Prior was put away for life on a drug conviction, along
with more than 2,000 other federal inmates like him, thousands of
others in the federal system are serving the practical equivalent of
life sentences. If they get out at all, it will be at the twilight of
their lives, with few if any resources, the most productive years of
their lives past. They likely will be wards of the state and
candidates for more drug abuse or crime.

In these cases, the criminal-justice system not only missed
opportunities to salvage lives, but discarded them. A remarkable
group of Iowans from across the business, political and social
spectrum saw how such an opportunity was badly missed in Prior's
case, and they got George W. Bush to agree.

It's time for members of Congress and state lawmakers to end the harm
caused by wrongheaded drug prosecutions and mandatory prison
sentences and ensure opportunities to salvage lives are not missed in
the future.