More on the IACHR hearing on federal mandatory minimums

As previously noted here, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is scheduled to hold a hearing on Friday to explore the "Discriminatory Impact of Mandatory Minimum Sentences in the Federal Criminal System of the United States of America."  Yesterday I received a press release providing more these details about the scheduled hearing:

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will hear testimony about the impact of current sentencing policies on communities of color within the United States, on Friday, March 3, 10:15am at the Organization of American States.... Testifying before the Commission are:

• Judge Patricia Wald, Member of the American Bar Association's Committee on Effective Criminal Sanctions; former judge on the International Criminal Tribunal in the Hague; and Chief Judge for the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit (1986-1991);
• Professor Charles Ogletree, Executive Director of Harvard Law School's Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice;
• Gay McDougall, Executive Director of Global Rights and the first United Nations Independent Expert on Minority Issues;
• Kemba Smith, who was sentenced to a mandatory minimum 24 year term for her minor role in a crack cocaine drug conspiracy and was granted clemency by President Clinton in 2000.

I have also received a copy of the written testimony of Judge Wald, who is testifying on behalf of the ABA.  Her testimony, which can be downloaded below, is a to-the-point indictment of harsh mandatory minimum sentences.  Here is just one of the passages that caught my eye:

Unduly long and punitive sentences are counter-productive, and candidly many of our mandatory minimums approach the cruel and unusual level as compared to other countries as well as to our own past practices. On a personal note, let me say that on the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal I was saddened to see that the sentences imposed on war crimes perpetrators responsible for the deaths and suffering of hundreds of innocent civilians often did not come near those imposed in my own country for dealing in a few bags of illegal drugs. These are genuine human rights concerns that I believe merit your interest and attention.

Download wald_aba_testimony_for_iachr.pdf

UPDATE:  This afternoon I also received a copy of testimony submitted to the IACHR by Families Against Mandatory Minimums entitled "Disparate Impact of Federal Mandatory Minimums On Minority Communities in the United States."  You can download this testimony below:

Download famm_iahrc_statement_fnl.doc