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WHAT WAS PROJECT EXILE?
Mandatory minimums, like Project Exile,
just ended up putting more people in prison without a real effect on crime.
Mandatory minimums also ended up costing taxpayers more money.
TRUMP ON GUNS GUEST: Mike Riggs, is Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) director of communications. A former journalist, he has written about civil liberties and criminal justice policy for Reason Magazine, The Daily Caller, CNN, the Weekly Standard, and other outlets.
TRUMP’S POSITION: “Several years ago there was a tremendous program in Richmond, Virginia called Project Exile. It said that if a violent felon uses a gun to commit a crime, you will be prosecuted in federal court and go to prison for five years – no parole or early release. Obama’s former Attorney General, Eric Holder, called that a “cookie cutter” program. That’s ridiculous. I call that program a success. Murders committed with guns in Richmond decreased by over 60% when Project Exile was in place – in the first two years of the program alone, 350 armed felons were taken off the street.
Why does that matter to law-abiding gun owners? Because they’re the ones who anti-gun politicians and the media blame when criminals misuse guns. We need to bring back and expand programs like Project Exile and get gang members and drug dealers off the street. When we do, crime will go down and our cities and communities will be safer places to live.”
So Trump’s proposal would actually expand government, instead of decreasing it.
REBUTTAL TO TRUMP: “Effects on crime. The shift toward more incarceration and longer sentences reflected a widespread view that incarceration was a key way to control crime. This has not proven to be the case. During the four decades when incarceration rates steadily rose, crime rates showed no clear trend. The crime reduction effect of incarceration on is highly uncertain and is unlikely to have been large. In addition, the crime-reduction benefits of very long sentences are likely to be small; one reason is that rates of re-offending drop significantly as people age, and so very long sentences incarcerate people whose likelihood of committing further crimes is low even if they were not imprisoned.”
“Mandatory minimums have been cited as a reason for the exponential growth in the federal prison population, which, in FY 2010, numbered 208,118 inmates, up from 24,252 in FY 1980. “The [United States Sentencing Commission] reported that the number of inmates in the federal prison system who were convicted of an offense that carried a mandatory minimum penalty increased 178%, from approximately 40,000 in FY 1995 to nearly 112,000 in FY 2010,” the Congressional Research Service explains. “Of these offenders, nearly 30,000 in FY 1995 and approximately 80,000 in FY 2010 were actually subject to a mandatory minimum penalty.”
READ: http://hotair.com/archives/2015/09/19/donald-trumps-mixed-gun-platform/
ABOUT: FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization fighting for smart sentencing laws that protect public safety. We see a country where criminal sentencing is individualized, humane, and sufficient to impose fair punishment and protect public safety. Our supporters include taxpayers, families, prisoners, law enforcement, attorneys, judges, criminal justice experts and concerned citizens.
What FAMM Does…
By advocating for sensible state and federal sentencing reform, FAMM helps:
(1) Lessen the burden of overcrowded prisons on taxpayers…
(2) Shift resources from excessive incarceration to law enforcement and other programs proven to reduce crime and recidivism…
(3) Mobilize those whose lives are harmed by unfair prison sentences to work constructively for change…
BIO: Mike is FAMM’s director of communications. A former journalist, he has written about civil liberties and criminal justice policy for Atlantic Media, Reason Magazine, the Washington City Paper, The Daily Caller, CNN, the Weekly Standard, The New Republic, and other outlets. In 2013, his investigative reporting for Reason on President Obama’s transparency policy was recognized by the Western Publishing Association, and his reporting on prescription drug policy in Florida was recognized by the Los Angeles Press Club. He is a former judge for the Association of Alternative News-media Awards, and a graduate of Stetson University in DeLand, Florida.
WEBSITE: famm.org
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/mike.riggs?fref=photo
TWITTER: @FAMMfoundation, @MikeRiggs