Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul released the following statement in response to reports that Attorney General Jeff Sessions has directed prosecutors nationwide to pursue stricter mandatory minimum sentences.

“Mandatory minimum sentences have unfairly and disproportionately incarcerated too many minorities for too long,” said Dr. Paul. “Attorney General Sessions’ new policy will accentuate that injustice. Instead, we should treat our nation’s drug epidemic as a health crisis and less as a ‘lock ‘em up and throw away the key’ problem.”