Last Week Tonight: John Oliver Demands End to Mandatory Minimum Laws

July 27, 2015 3:21 AM EDT

On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver drew attention to the fact that U.S. President Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 46 non-violent drug offenders, a move that John Oliver considers “the criminal justice version of Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen” without the risk of “disappointing Padma with your risotto.”

The prisoners were all incarcerated under mandatory minimum sentencing laws, which require typically harsh sentences regardless of the context of each crime. Oliver believes that these laws are remnants of the war on drugs put in place by the Bush and Reagan administrations and, according to Oliver, they are responsible for the explosion in the U.S. prison population with non-violent drug offenders stuck in prison for decades with no chance of parole.

As an example, Oliver showed a clip from the documentary The House I Live In, featuring a prisoner who was sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole for carrying three ounces of methamphetamine. In Oliver’s terminology, they were treating the prisoner like “season five Walter White when he was barely season one Jesse Pinkman.” Another prisoner was a non-violent first-time offender who sold a small amount of marijuana to an undercover agent and was slapped with a 55-year sentence without parole for selling a drug which is now legal in four states and, according to Oliver, “has the side effect of making episodes of Frasier slightly funnier.”

Oliver believes that these mandatory minimum sentencing laws have done “way more harm than good,” especially because they tend to affect black and Hispanic populations the most. Additionally, many mandatory minimum sentences have been changed, but those changes have not been applied retroactively, something Oliver finds abhorrent.

Inside the California Prison Where Inmates Train Rescue Dogs

Jack playing with Shelby after their morning training session.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois

Inmate Marcus and a dog called Eddie in cell block A5.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois

A dog named Shelby sitting inside an inmate's cell at California State Prison.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois

Inmates Jack and Marcus relaxing with dogs in the late afternoon inside cell block A5.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois

Inmate Martel with Chuey.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois

Salaam greeting Chuey as he arrives in the prison.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois

Inmates listening to instructions during a training session in cell block A5.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois

Inmate Marcus leaving cell block A5 to walk in the yard with Rendell.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois

Travielle sitting in the shade with a dog named Chuey during a break from their training.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois

Inmate John feeding a dog named Rendell in his crate in the morning. Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois

A dog called Eddie is seen napping in the shade during a break from training.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois

John walking the yard with Rendell on their last day together at the prison.Shaughn Crawford and John DuBois

Watch John Oliver Demand an End to Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws

Inside the California Prison Where Inmates Train Rescue Dogs

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