GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A new attitude toward prosecuting drug crimes by the U.S. Attorney General’s Office calls for a return to the policies of the so-called “war on drugs” that preceded the Obama administration.
It’s a change that will mean more people serving longer federal prison sentences.
Patrick Miles was the chief federal prosecutor for the Western District of Michigan for five years, appointed by President Barack Obama. He resigned when the new administration took over in January. He said the edict that came Friday from the new attorney general, Jeff Sessions, assures him he made the right decision.
“Going forward, I have empowered our prosecutors to charge and pursue the most serious offense, as I believe our law allows,” Sessions said in an address to the media.
Sessions’ memo to attorneys reverses the course taken by Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder in 2013, when he told prosecutors to show restraint in prosecuting low-level nonviolent drug offenders.
“It is simply the right and moral thing to do,” Sessions said.
Full story: WOOD TV