On the recordMarch 17, 2015
I wish to pick up where my friend left off. I thank, from the bottom of my heart, the leadership of Senator Lee and Senator Durbin on what is an extraordinary piece of legislation in terms of its impact. My colleagues have made it clear time and again--in the last Congress and in this Congress--that the application of mandatory minimum sentences, especially in drug cases, feeds the perception of pervasive unfairness in our criminal justice system just for the points that Senator Lee was making. This perception is based in that reality. When I was mayor, I used to always say, ``In God we trust,'' but everyone else, ``Bring me data.'' The data is clear from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which shows that mandatory minimums have a disparate impact on minority communities. Let's be clear. The majority of illegal drug users and dealers in our country are white, but three-quarters of all the people incarcerated for drug offenses are Black and Latino, and the large majority of individuals subject to Federal mandatory minimum penalties are African American and Hispanic. That perception is fed by this reality: African Americans are granted relief from mandatory minimum penalties as are other citizens under the so-called safety valve, but Blacks get the safety valve far less than other groups. For example, the data shows that in 2010, 63.7 percent of White offenders received the safety valve relief while only 39.4 percent of Black offenders received that benefit.…
