“In his last months as a senator, Attorney General Jeff Sessions helped to turn back legislation fueled by a groundswell of bipartisan support for criminal justice reform, especially of harsh, ineffective sentences for drug offenders.
“Now with his newly minted executive power, he looks to end that momentum for good. In a May 12 order, he wiped away forward-looking reforms advanced under the Obama administration in cases involving nonviolent drug offenders. He directed federal prosecutors to embrace past failures by pursuing the most serious charges they could prove.”