Attorney General Jeff Sessions told a Tallahassee audience Thursday the Justice Department will aggressively implement the Trump Administration's new plan to combat the nation's opioid epidemic.
- Sessions says he will aggressively implement Trump opioid plan
- Plan will include seeking death penalty
- Critics say penalties are too harsh, target communities of color
The plan will include seeking the death penalty in cases involving large-scale drug traffickers.
Sessions made his remarks at the U.S. Courthouse in the capital city of a state that has been particularly hard hit by the epidemic.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has reported that fentanyl-related deaths in Florida skyrocketed by 97 percent between 2015 and 2016.
"We cannot allow drug dealers to walk our streets thinking they will get away with their crimes, or they will only get a slap on the wrist," Sessions said. "They need to know that we will not hesitate to pursue maximum sentences allowed by law and, if appropriate, the death penalty."
The plan, which President Trump unveiled in New Hampshire Monday, has drawn scrutiny from critics who argue its penalties are too harsh.
"Trump's plan to deal with the opioid crisis is more of the same — a lot of talk and no action. Furthermore, he is proposing outrageous, dictatorship-style sentences like capital punishment for drug offenders," said State Rep. Shevrin Jones (D-West Park) in a statement.
"Jeff Sessions continues to carry Trump's policies and message, which target communities of color, and offers no meaningful action and too few funding sources for prevention," Jones added.
The president, however, has sought to frame the crackdown, which also includes more prosecutions of unscrupulous doctors and pharmacies, as in-line with the drug policies of most other Western countries.
At the Monday rollout, he recalled his conversations with world leaders.
"'We have zero tolerance for drug dealers.’ I say, 'what does that mean?’ That means we have the death penalty for drug dealers, we don't have a drug problem.’ Take a look at some of these countries," he said.
Legal analysts have warned the death penalty component of the plan, if followed by U.S. attorneys, would almost certainly result in constitutional challenges. The Supreme Court has ruled the death penalty can only be sought in cases involving crimes that result in death.
During his remarks, Sessions tellingly made a point of linking drug trafficking to murder.
“These gangs murder people on whims sometimes," he said. "They often deliberately are providing drugs that result in deaths. So, we will be careful how we handle these cases, but we will not hesitate to bring a death penalty when it's appropriate."