Senate Sentencing Reform Mark-Up “the Most Significant Legislative Overhaul to Our Criminal Justice System in Years”
On January 30th, the Senate Judiciary Committee will undertake the most significant legislative overhaul to our criminal justice system in years.
The committee will merge three bipartisan proposals that would reform how our nation’s criminal sentences are enforced, leading to a more ethical, leaner, and more effective prison system. The mark-up will be livestreamed here on Thursday, January 30th at 10:00 AM ET.
About the Mark-Up
In a congressional environment that has never been more polarized, an unprecedented bipartisan consensus has lined up behind these three bills, which will be merged and prepared to submit to the full Senate for a vote.
Tea party favorites in Congress like Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Mike Lee (R-UT) and Congressmen Raul Labrador (R-WY) and Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) have co-introduced these proposals and their House counterparts with noted progressives like Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA).
“There is undeniable bipartisan momentum for smart criminal justice reforms like these,” said Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “These bills offer the nation a justice system that is fairer, more affordable, and responsive to priorities of Democrats and Republicans alike. The committee has an unprecedented opportunity to advance these promising bipartisan reforms and make real progress in an otherwise polarized Congress.”
The last time the committee considered criminal justice reform legislation was in 2010, when the Senate passed the Fair Sentencing Act, which reduced a counter-productive and discriminatory disparity in how people are punished for possessing crack cocaine. Crack and powder cocaine are two forms of the same drug, but crack cocaine, which is more prevalent in minority communities, carried much harsher penalties.
Since its passage, the Fair Sentencing Act has saved about a half billion dollars in unnecessary incarceration expenses while reducing unfair and discriminatory sentences for crack cocaine offenses.
Details About the Three Bills
The Smarter Sentencing Act was introduced by Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Mike Lee (R-UT). If passed, the bill would affect the sentences of thousands of nonviolent drug offenders facing mandatory minimum sentences (including many who are already in prison) and save taxpayers billions of dollars.
- The bill gives judges flexibility in applying sentences for minor drug charges when defendants don’t pose any risk to public safety.
- It reduces mandatory minimums for some drug offenses.
- It makes the Fair Sentencing Act retroactive.
- The bill’s House counterpart was introduced by Congressmen Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Raul Labrador (R-WY).
Conservative cost estimates from the Urban Institute indicate that these provisions would lead to the following savings:
- Reduction in mandatory minimums alone accounts for $2.5 billion in savings over 10 years.
- Fair Sentencing Act retroactivity accounts for $229 million in savings over 10 years
- Expanded Safety Valve accounts for $544 million in savings over 10 years
The Justice Safety Valve Act was introduced by Rand Paul (R-KY) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT). This bill gives judge greater sentencing flexibility for certain drug offenses. The bill’s House counterpart was introduced by Congressmen Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY).
The Recidivism Reduction and Public Safety Act was introduced by Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Rob Portman (R-OH). This proposal provides incentives for inmates who are currently incarcerated to participate in programs that promote sobriety and reduce recidivism.
- Under this bill, federal prisoners can earn up to two months off of their sentences for every year of participation in these programs.
- Prisoners could also earn a week more off of their sentence each year for good behavior.
- Requires the Bureau of Prisons to ensure all prisoners in need of participating in the Residential Drug Abuse Program receive a full 12 month sentence credit for completion.
If passed, conservative estimates by the Urban Institute suggest that, respectively, this bill would create around $100 million in cost savings over 10 years.
Who Supports These Bills?
Proposals like these have received broad support from civil rights groups like The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the NAACP, and the National Council of La Raza as well as conservative groups like Heritage Action, Americans for Tax Reform, and the Faith and Freedom Coalition.
When applauding the introduction of the Justice Safety Valve Act, Wade Henderson, president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights said that “our justice system’s overreliance on mandatory minimum sentencing is a major reason our prison system incarcerates more people than any other industrialized nation in the world, a disproportionate number of whom are Black and Brown. In fact, our overcrowded prisons are almost entirely the result of the mass incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders, who make up nearly half of all federal offenders.”
Conservatives like Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed recently sent a letter to the committee in support of the Smarter Sentencing Act, stating that “the ballooning prison population also comes at a severe fiscal price. Housing one federal prisoner costs approximately $29,000 per year. The federal prison system budget now accounts for more than 25 percent of the Department of Justice’s budget. We should be returning police power to the states, not expanding the federal prison system. Our scarce criminal justice dollars should be focused on victims’ services, police, and prison cells for violent criminals and terrorists.”