Getting your player ready...
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Michael Mukasey wants Congress to act within weeks to prevent the release of thousands of violent criminals from federal prison under new crack-cocaine sentencing rules.
In testimony prepared for a House hearing today, Mukasey indicates a willingness to go along with new sentencing guidelines that reduce federal prison time for crack-cocaine convicts — but only for first- time, nonviolent offenders.
New U.S. Sentencing Commission rules taking effect in less than a month would let nearly 20,000 federal inmates seek reductions in their crack- cocaine sentences.
