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Eric Holder: Cutting sanctuary city funds unconstitutional Sacramento Bee Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck are continuing to push legislation that would prevent California law enforcement officers from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. They joined California ... L.A. Police Chief Charlie Beck endorses 'sanctuary state' bill that ...Los Angeles Times Eric Holder, LAPD chief say 'sanctuary state' bill will restore trust between immigrants, policeLA Daily News LAPD Chief Endorses Disputed 'Sanctuary State' BillNBC Southern California all 68 news articles »

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Eric Holder: Cutting sanctuary city funds unconstitutional - Sacramento Bee

DOJA new report from the Justice Department's inspector general, noted here the other day by C.J. Ciaramella, sheds some light on the question of how many federal drug offenders benefited from a 2013 change in charging policy that Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently reversed. It looks like the policy Sessions rescinded did have a significant impact on the sentences received by nonviolent, low-level drug offenders, although precise numbers remain elusive.

In an August 2013 memo, Attorney General Eric Holder instructed federal prosecutors to omit drug weight, which triggers mandatory minimum sentences, from charges against nonviolent drug offenders without leadership roles, significant criminal histories, or significant ties to large-scale drug trafficking organizations. At the time, Paul Hofer, a policy analyst at Federal Public and Community Defenders, estimated that the new policy might result in shorter sentences for 500 or so defendants each year. Figuring out what actually happened is hard without better data on prosecutors' charging decisions, but the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) looked at a few indirect measures.

In a survey of assistant U.S. attorneys, the OIG found that nearly half (49 percent) said Holder's directive had affected their charging decisions. Another 20 percent said "it was already their practice...not to charge low-level, non-violent defendants with mandatory minimum-triggering drug quantities."

Looking at data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the OIG found evidence that federal prosecutors really did change the way they charged drug offenders. The share of federal drug offenders who did not qualify for the statutory "safety valve" (a narrower, pre-existing exception) but who nevertheless did not receive mandatory minimums rose from 25 percent in fiscal year 2012 to 35 percent in fiscal year 2015. Among drug defendants with a base offense level of 24 or higher and two criminal history points, which made them ineligible for the safety valve but not necessarily for the prosecutorial forbearance urged by Holder, 32 percent received mandatory minimums in FY 2015, down from 45 percent in FY 2013.

The OIG also cites evidence that federal prosecutors responded to Holder's reminder that they should focus their resources on the most serious drug offenders. "The percentage of drug defendants who possessed a weapon rose from 15 percent in FY 2012 to 16.2 in FY 2014, and to 17.2 percent in FY 2015," the report notes. "The percentage of defendants with an aggravating role in the offense, such as leadership of a drug conspiracy, under the sentencing guidelines also increased, from 6.6 percent of drug offenders in FY 2012 to 7.1 percent in 2014 and 7.7 percent in 2015."

Meanwhile, fewer low-level drug offenders were being prosecuted in the federal system. The report notes says "offenders who were eligible for the safety valve (first-time, non-violent drug offenders whose cases did not involve guns) fell from 38.5 percent of those federally sentenced in FY 2012 to 32.3 percent by FY 2015."

After Holder's memo, it seems, nonviolent, low-level drug offenders were less likely to face federal prosecution and less likely to receive mandatory minimums. Those were positive, if modest, changes, unless you share Jeff Sessions' view that there is no such thing as a nonviolent or low-level drug offender in the federal system and never has been.

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More Evidence That Eric Holder's Charging Memo Helped Drug ... - Reason (blog)

Uber's Travis Kalanick resigned as CEO on Tuesday, following a personal tragedy and a string of scandalous allegations at his company.

Kalanick had hired the law firm of former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate the allegations. In the report released last week, Holder's team proposed 47 recommendations, including the establishment of a board oversight committee, rewriting Uber's cultural values, reducing alcohol use at work events, and prohibiting intimate relationships between employees and their bosses.

On Wednesday Holder attended Gateway '17, a small-business conference in Detroit presented by Alibaba. He told CNBC in an interview at the event that he's very hopeful for Uber's future and the company's prospects for enacting some real change.

When asked if he thought all his recommendations would be put into place, Holder said absolutely. He said the board was very serious during its seven-hour meeting last week.

CNBC's Anita Balakrishnan contributed to this report.

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Here's what Eric Holder who investigated Uber's culture thinks now - CNBC

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Former Attorney General Eric Holder is reportedly joining the anti-President Trump "resistance" and mulling a presidential run in 2020.

"I want to use whatever skills I have, whatever notoriety I have, to be effective in opposing things that are, at the end of the day, just bad for the country," Holder told Yahoo News.Now is the time to be more visible. Now is the time to be heard.

On "Outnumbered" today, Meghan McCain said she can think of a more fitting place for Holder than the White House: the big house.

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She explained that Holderwas held in contempt of Congress in 2012 for refusing to turn over documents related to the Fast and Furious scandal.

"In any other administration, this man would be in jail, which is where he should be, not running for president," McCain said.

Mercedes Schlapp said that Republicans should actually encourage Holder to run for president, as he's "unfit" for the position and would hurt the Democrats.

She added that Holder would not have the support of the more progressive wing of the Democratic Party, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

McCain said the mere thought of Holder running for president is "asinine."

"It's actually very serious allegations that were brought up against him," McCain said. "So the idea that he's sort of just going to recuse himself from having any culpability in any of that and just run for president is insane."

Watch more above.

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Meghan McCain: Eric Holder Should Be in Jail, Not Running for President - Fox News Insider

Up to now, I have been more behind-the-scenes, Holder told Yahoo News in an interview. But thats about to change. I have a certain status as the former attorney general. A certain familiarity as the first African-American attorney general. Theres a justified perception that Im close to President Obama. So I want to use whatever skills I have, whatever notoriety I have, to be effective in opposing things that are, at the end of the day, just bad for the country.

Holder, who served as Barack Obamas Attorney General from 2009 to 2015 before being replaced by Loretta Lynch, also said that he had planned to take a back seat role in politics, but Hillary Clintons defeat in 2016 election inspired him to re-engage in frontline politics.

I thought, frankly, along with everybody else, that after the election, with Hillary Clinton as president, I could walk off the field, he continued. So when she didnt win, I thought, Well have to see how this plays out. But it became clear relatively soon and certainly sooner than I expected that I had to get back on the field and be in effective opposition.

Since Trump took office, Holder has been involved in legal attempts to torpedo Donald Trumps immigration agenda. In January, he was hired by Democratic leaders to represent the state of California to maintain its status as a sanctuary city.

On Monday, Holder spoke at a public meeting at the Ronald Reagan State Building in Los Angeles, alongside California Senate leader Kevin de Leon, to promote legislation known as the California Values Act, which prevents local police from enforcing immigration law.

During the meeting, Holder claimed that the federal government does not have the ability to force states to do things that are inherently federal in nature, and that attempts to withhold federal funds for failing to comply with immigration law are unconstitutional.

Now is the time to be more visible, Holder added. Now is the time to be heard.

Other Democrats muted as potential 2020 presidential candidates include Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former vice-president Joe Biden.

You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew,oremail him at bkew@breitbart.com

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Former Attorney General Eric Holder Considering 2020 Presidential Bid - Breitbart News