Julie Stewart, President and Founder, FAMM
When Julie Stewart formed Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) in 1991, it was because the issue touched her personally. Her brother, a nonviolent, first-time drug offender was sentenced to five years in a federal prison for growing marijuana. Julie had never heard of mandatory minimum sentencing laws but soon learned that they were the reason the judge was forced to hand down a five-year sentence. Outraged that the judge no longer had the discretion to make the punishment fit the crime, Julie started an organization to promote fairer sentencing laws.
Since 1991, FAMM has worked to challenge the inflexible and excessive penalties of mandatory minimum sentencing and to promote rational policies that give judges discretion to distinguish between defendants and to ensure that the punishment fits the defendant’s role in the crime. Throughout the years, FAMM’s work has directly contributed to fairer sentences for over 45,000 drug defendants nationwide and paved the way for the current shift away from mandatory sentencing policies. Among FAMM’s successful legislative reforms were changes to federal LSD and marijuana sentencing policies, restoration of judicial discretion in certain federal drug cases, and the introduction of parole for nonviolent Michigan drug prisoners formerly serving life sentences. These changes occurred with the help of FAMM’s 36,000 members.
Julie has received the Thomas Szasz Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Cause of Civil Liberties, the Champion of Justice Award from the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, and she was one of 20 people to receive a Ford Foundation Leadership for a Changing World Award in 2002. In April 2006, Julie received the Citizen Activist Award from the Los Angeles-based Gleitsman Foundation. The award annually recognizes individuals who have challenged social justice problems in the United States.
Julie was raised in Pullman, Washington and attended Mills College in Oakland, California, where she graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in International Relations. She moved to Washington, D.C. in 1988 where she worked at the Cato Institute for three years as director of public affairs before starting FAMM in 1991.