Tavis Smiley : I 'm underwhelmed at Smiley 's decision to avert mandatory minimum sentences . Things are `` breaking bad '' for us too . What took so long ? Such sentences have been a disaster from the beginning , he says . He says tough-on-crime laws made incarceration jump nearly 800 % ; blacks , Hispanic bore brunt . Tavis Smiley : Why is America no longer willing to do this ? Not morals , sadly -- it just got too expensive .
Tavis Smiley : I 'm underwhelmed at Smiley 's decision to avert mandatory minimum sentences . What took so long ? Such sentences have been a disaster from the beginning , he says . He says tough-on-crime laws made incarceration jump nearly 800 % ; blacks , Hispanic bore brunt . Tavis Smiley : Why is America no longer willing to do this ? Not morals , sadly -- it just got too expensive .