This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Friday, March 15, 2013.

I'm Caleb Brown.

Mandatory minimum sentencing perverts justice.

It robs judges of the ability to judge,

and it encourages innocent people to take otherwise

unconscionable plea deals. Julie Stewart as president of families against

mandatory minimums she argues that finally legislatures are beginning to make positive changes to restore

balance in criminal sentencing.

Well it's actually encouraging that there are more people interested in sentencing reform

and doing something about it both federally

and at the state level.

I think the states have been driven pretty much by budget restraints in the past five, ten years

maximum and have actually made some significant reforms to

either repealing mandatory minimums reforming them you know tweaking around the

edges but even in Congress which I think is sort of the last bastion of tough on crime, there is interest in one of the big champions of sentencing reform right now is Senator Rand Paul who all of a sudden is many

people's darling but we have been very happy with him the past six months through a

year that he we've been working with him on sentencing.

And hopefully he's about to drop a bill with Senator Leahy that would basically create a safety

valve which allows judges to ignore the mandatory minimum in cases where the

punishment so clearly exceeds the you know what's necessary for that person.

Now a lot of states have stepped down just regular sentences for a whole host of

drug crimes and you say that most of those efforts are being driven by budget concerns. Where has that been the most dramatic?

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