--- title: Attorney General Eric Holder Endorses Drug Sentencing Proposal description: Attorney General Eric Holder testified before the U.S. Sentencing Commission that he backs lighter mandatory sentences for low-level, non-violent drug offenders, which would reduce the federal prison population by more than 6,500 inmates canonical: https://time.com/23341/holder-backs-plan-to-reduce-sentences-for-drug-offenses/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-13T15:02:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:45:17.878Z article:section: Politics og:title: Attorney General Eric Holder Endorses Drug Sentencing Proposal og:description: Attorney General Eric Holder testified before the U.S. Sentencing Commission that he backs lighter mandatory sentences for low-level, non-violent drug offenders, which would reduce the federal prison population by more than 6,500 inmates og:url: https://time.com/23341/holder-backs-plan-to-reduce-sentences-for-drug-offenses/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c6b6432b5309216/69868548810bbbd16fc9075e/attorney-general-eric-holder.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 29, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Attorney General Eric Holder Endorses Drug Sentencing Proposal twitter:description: Attorney General Eric Holder testified before the U.S. Sentencing Commission that he backs lighter mandatory sentences for low-level, non-violent drug offenders, which would reduce the federal prison population by more than 6,500 inmates twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c6b6432b5309216/69868548810bbbd16fc9075e/attorney-general-eric-holder.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Holder Backs Plan To Reduce Sentences For Drug Offenses > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 13, 2014 3:02 PM UTC  Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 29, 2014. Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 29, 2014. J. Scott Applewhite—AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 13, 2014 3:02 PM UTC Attorney General Eric Holder has [lent his support](http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/March/14-ag-263.html) to a proposed amendment to the U.S. federal sentencing guidelines that would reduce the average drug trafficking sentence by 11 months. In statements before the [U.S. Sentencing Commission ](http://www.ussc.gov/)on Thursday, Holder backed a reduction in sentences for low-level drug offenders that would reduce the federal prison population by 6,550 inmates within five years. He said the guidelines would “send a strong message about the fairness of our criminal justice system” while curbing federal prison spending. The Sentencing Commission proposed the amendments in January. Thursday’s endorsement falls in line with the Obama Administration’s “Smart on Crime” initiative, the goal of which is to reform the Department of Justice’s approach to sentencing low-level, non-violent drug offenders. The DOJ has been introducing piecemeal reforms to mandatory minimum sentences over the past year. Om Thursday, Holder urged the Commission to “seize this opportunity to make our criminal justice system more fair and keep the American people more safe.” “By adopting these proposed amendments to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, this Commission can take an important step to allow judges to make commonsense determinations,” Holder said. The Department of Justice expects the Commission to vote on the proposal in April. Until then they will “direct prosecutors not to object if defendants in court seek to have the newly proposed guidelines applied to them during sentencing.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/23341/holder-backs-plan-to-reduce-sentences-for-drug-offenses/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/23341/holder-backs-plan-to-reduce-sentences-for-drug-offenses/"},"headline":"Holder Backs Plan To Reduce Sentences For Drug Offenses","datePublished":"2014-03-13T15:02:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:45:17.878Z","description":"Attorney General Eric Holder testified before the U.S. Sentencing Commission that he backs lighter mandatory sentences for low-level, non-violent drug offenders, which would reduce the federal prison population by more than 6,500 inmates","url":"https://time.com/23341/holder-backs-plan-to-reduce-sentences-for-drug-offenses/","keywords":["Department of Justice","reform","Eric Holder"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c6b6432b5309216/69868548810bbbd16fc9075e/attorney-general-eric-holder.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3c6b6432b5309216/69868548810bbbd16fc9075e/attorney-general-eric-holder.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 29, 2014.","caption":"Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 29, 2014.","creditText":"J. 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