Toward a Smarter Drug Policy

Huffington Post (Blog)

In Los Angeles not long ago, a man named Michael Banyard ran afoul of California's "three strikes" law. After bouts of homelessness, unemployment, suicidal thoughts, and a criminal record driven by an underlying substance use disorder, Michael faced a mandatory 25-year prison sentence. Fortunately for Michael, Federal District Court Judge Spencer Letts was put in charge of his final sentence appeal. Judge Letts saw Michael not as a hopeless, drug-using criminal, but as an individual with a disease in need of help. The judge then did something highly unusual. He not only reversed Michael's sentence, he invited him into his chambers to talk.

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