“I think the stacking issue is a problem...I would support reform of the stacking provisions somewhat like you have it in the bill today.” - Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), on the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, October 22, 2015
Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo to his staff last month that instructs prosecutors to charge suspects with the most serious provable offenses, "those that carry the most substantial guidelines sentence, including mandatory minimum sentences”.
Weldon Angelos’s story has become known around the country as a horrifying example of how harsh mandatory minimums can ruin the lives of non-violent criminals and their families. Angelos was sentenced in 2004 to 55 years for drug-related crimes. Judge Paul G. Cassell, who handed down the sentence, was vocal about his frustration with a system that would have Angelos spend the rest of his life incarcerated while child rapists and airplane hijackers received significantly shorter sentences.