Color Me WTF??: Rand Paul and Pat Leahy Draft Legislation to Overhaul Fed Sentencing [View all]

[joeybee12]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul on Wednesday implored Senate colleagues to support a sweeping overhaul of federal sentencing guidelines, saying they disproportionately affect minorities and are reminiscent of Jim Crow laws.

"There is no justice here," said the libertarian and potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate. "It is wrong and it needs to change."

Paul recounted from memory to a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee several cases he said he'd learned about where mandatory minimums had resulted in a miscarriage of justice.

He said one man, Edward Clay, was arrested with less than 2 ounces of cocaine. Even as a first-time offender, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison because of mandatory sentencing guidelines, Paul said.

"Each case should be judged on its own merits," Paul said. "Mandatory minimums prevent this from happening."

http://news.yahoo.com/paul-other-senators-push-sentencing-overhaul-170437858--politics.html

Politics makes for strange bedfellows indeed