Helpful insghts.
Obama's just doing what he's empowered to do.
newrepublic.com
A separate class of cases, federal this time, that Justice sought not to prosecute involved another group of drug users – non-violent, low-level offenders who would receive what Holder (2013) called “draconian” punishment under extant mandatory minimum sentencing laws. “Too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement reason,” the Attorney General said, and the president has “made it part of his mission to reduce the disparities in our criminal justice system.” One way to do this, given limited resources, was to charge the drug users in the category above with different crimes that would lead to sentences “better suited to their individual conduct” rather than the mandatory minimums set in statute.