California ends mandatory minimum drug sentence rules

By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom ended mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug crimes in the nation’s most populous state on Tuesday. The mandatory sentencing law grew out of what Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco called a failed war on drugs that disproportionately incarcerated people who are Black and Latino. Newsom signed the bill giving judges more discretion to impose probation or other alternative sentences. Wiener said that is important particularly for those suffering from drug addiction. But the California Association of Highway Patrolmen said the penalties work as a deterrent or a reason for people to get the treatment they need to turn their lives around.