Retrieving The Jailer's Keys

WITH VICTORY IN THE WAR ON DRUGS NOWHERE IN sight and prison populations bulging, the 1980s' lock-'em-up approach to drug crimes has come under increasing attack. Now Attorney General Janet Reno says she too wants to reconsider the harsh mandatory sentences legislated by drug-war hawks during the Reagan-Bush era. Reno announced a sweeping review of federal drug- punishment policies to determine if packing prisons with small-time offenders -- say, sentencing a 19-year-old courier to five years for transporting as little as five grams of crack -- makes sense or justice.

Critics have long complained that mandatory minimums hurt the young, the ignorant and the poor, throwing them in prison with hardened criminals. The inflexible sentences also force many officials to make space by granting early release to dangerous offenders like robbers and rapists. Reno is sympathetic to these charges and wants to see more effort spent on treatment.