This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Monday, February 10th, 2014.

I'm Caleb Brown.

Reforming mandatory minimum sentences has taken a first step in the Senate,

aside from dramatically cutting mandatory

minimums for many drug crimes, the proposed reform would also end the

disparity between previous sentences for crack and cocaine. Molly

Gill is with families against mandatory

minimums. We spoke last week. It's been a very good week for sentencing reform in

the Senate in Washington. Last week the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the Smarter Sentencing Act which is

sponsored by an odd couple if there ever was one of Senator Durbin from Illinois, a very staunch civil rights defender and Democrat,

and Senator Mike Lee from Utah who is darling of the Tea Party.

And a former prosecutor?

Yes.

So the bill passed the committee by a vote of 13 to 5.

Lots of former prosecutors on that committee, and all of them

essentially said that these laws have gone too far and it's time to scale it

back. What does it do? What does this act do and what what's missing? The first thing it does is it cuts most drug mandatory minimum sentences by about half?

So it takes your 10 year sentences down to five years, for example.

That's going to save a lot of money at the Department of Justice

which is incredibly strapped in terms of budget right now. It's going to downsize the

federal prison population. It's going to save taxpayers money.

The next thing that it does is it slightly

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