He is not likely to repeat his offense. His cell would be better occupied by a potential murderer. These are the sorts of difficult issues judges must weigh. The job cannot be reduced to a mathematical formula, although that is what the federal system attempts to do. In drug cases, the guidelines take into account the amount of drugs seized, prior criminal records, violence involved, use of a gun, etc., to arrive at a sentence that must be served in full.
Federal judges are, with a few exceptions, unable to depart from the sentencing guidelines.
As a result, in the federal system drug offenders serve very long sentences. It is not unusual to hear of cases of young men convicted of merely carrying drugs who will be near retirement age before their release from prison. This policy, the result of macho anti-crime rhetoric in Congress, has had tragic consequences for individuals, and for the nation. And 70 percent of this phenomenal growth has been due to federal drug cases. We have an unreasonable system.