WASHINGTON - FAMM President Kevin Ring released the following statement in support of the U.S. Senate introduction of the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021, which would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for low-level drug offenses. It was proposed to strike "mandatory life imprisonment to "not less than 25 years. Either MOREor CAOA would have been good for prisoners, but Democratic leaderships push of an alternative bill diluted the groundswell of support needed to get MORE passed. 1013 117th Congress: Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021. www.GovTrack.us. Examples abound for successful alternative methods that can greatly improve the current criminal legal system. Were looking to learn more about who uses GovTrack and what features you find helpful or think could be improved. Help us develop the tools to bring real-time legislative data into the classroom. making the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which reduced disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine from 100:1 to 18:1, retroactive. The principle that underlies mandatory minimums is dehumanization. We hope to make GovTrack more useful to policy professionals like you. You recall that in Terry v. United States last June, the Supreme Court held that Section 404 did not qualify pre-2010 crack sentences for sentence reduction. . At the same time, Durbin and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced S.1014, the First Step Implementation Act of 2021. Richard Durbin U.S. Senate 711 Hart Senate Building Washington, D.C. 20510 The Hon. Mandatory minimums dehumanize people by in the words of Judge Stephanos Bibas acting as sledgehammers rather than scalpels, falling with equal force on people whose circumstances are dramatically different from one another and preventing judges from calibrating punishment to suit the person or the crime. This is part of a new project to develop better tools for bringing real-time legislative data into the classroom. We all had high hopes for criminal justice reform when President Biden took the White House, and the Democrats won control of the House and Senate. |publisher=GovTrack.us Congress first enacted mandatory minimums for drug offensesin the early 20th century. If the Democrats fail to take advantage of the political opportunity in front of them, Forbes said last week, they risk ceding this issue to the Republicans if and when they take back control of Congress, possibly as soon as next year. A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law. The United States Senate has Bought forth the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021, which will do much for mandatory minimums and "Couriers" if passed. . The Smarter Sentencing Act is a commonsense solution that will greatly reduce the financial and, more importantly, the human cost imposed on society by the broken status quo. Arecent studyfinds that prosecutors mandatory minimum charges resulted in Black individuals spending more time in prison than whites for the exact same crimes. Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (CSIEA) to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for manufacturing, distributing, dispensing, possessing, importing, or exporting specified controlled substances. The term 'courier' means a defendant whose role in the offense was limited to transporting or storing drugs or money.''. Sentencing Commission, the Commission unanimously believes that certain mandatory minimum penalties apply too broadly, are excessively severe, and are applied inconsistently . A bill to focus limited Federal resources on the most serious offenders. Preventive monitoring of conditions in American prisons can help shine a light on what needs to change. The bipartisan bill introduction was led by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). Yes, indeedy, the 2017 version of the bill is identical to old S.502, except for a boatload more sponsors (21 from both sides of the aisle). Reason, In 2021, Qualified Immunity Reform Died a Slow, Painful Death (December 30, 2021), Forbes, The Least Eventful Year for Marijuana (December 31, 2021), San Francisco Chronicle, Bidens agenda is stuck. Under the 2018 bill, the change affected people sentenced under 841(b)(1)(A) and (b)(1)(B), but not people sentenced under the lowest level of sentence, 841(b)(1)(C). (b)(1)(B): The 10-year mandatory minimumfor a prior drug offense would drop to 5 years, and the 5-year mandatory minimumfloor would drop to 2 years. This is the one from the 117th Congress. expanding the safety valve contained in 18 USC 3553(f) which permits court to relieve low-level drug offenders with relatively clean records to avoid mandatory minimum sentences under some circumstances to include people with slightly more criminal history. The safety valve is critical to many defendants because a) it lowers their offense level by two points and b) it can drop an offender below a mandatory minimum sentence. Under the 2018 bill, the change affected people sentenced under 841(b)(1)(A) and (b)(1)(B), but not people sentenced under the lowest level of sentence, 841(b)(1)(C). Edits include language to define a serious violent felony and reducing the terms on a number of drug offenses. Your note is for you and will not be shared with anyone. A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law. Copyright 2016-Present The Law Office of Jeremy Gordon. Currently, the Byzantine sentencing regime in 21 USC 841(b) provides differing levels of mandatory minimum sentences for various quantities of different drugs, various number of prior drug felonies, and whether death or serious injury resulted from the drug dealing. If they decide that a mandatory minimum should be charged, they should charge the pertinent statutory quantities that apply to powder cocaine offenses. And at sentencing, prosecutors should advocate for a sentence consistent with the guidelines for powder cocaine rather than crack cocaine.. 2 0 obj
Given that commitment, Prez Biden should be a vocal supporter of this bill or should oppose it only because it does not go far enough because it merely seeks to reduce mandatory minimum penalties for certain nonviolent drug offenses, rather than entirely eliminate them. While Ohio State law professor Doug Berman is skeptical of their chances, he notes that prior iterations of [the Smarter Sentencing Act] got votes in Senate Judiciary Committee from the likes of Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. Bills numbers restart every two years. The defendants in crack cases were overwhelmingly black. (iii)by striking "mandatory term of life imprisonment without release" and inserting "term of imprisonment of not less than 25 years"; and, (B)in the flush text following clause (viii) (More Info). On the contrary, we suffer from an under-incarceration problem. The column called on Congress to end the jailbreak of slashed sentences and the broader civilizational suicide of the criminal justice reform., Politico, Criminal justice reform faces political buzzsaw as GOP hones its midterm message (April 14, 2022), Politico, Whats next for criminal justice reform? Were looking for feedback from educators about how GovTrack can be used and improved for your classroom. A 65% bill would stand a chance of passage approaching zero. , as President Biden has suggested, seek the elimination of mandatory minimum[s].. The problem is that most bills spend months in committee with no movement, or they pass inthe House only to the Senate before dying out. Some of the Smarter Sentencing Act provisions echo those of the Sentence Reform and Corrections Act of 2017, introduced two days earlier. The most comprehensive solution introduced in recent years was theMandatory Minimum Sentence Reform Act of 2017, which would have repealed all mandatory minimums for federal drug crimes. It is a searing indictment of a broken Beltway when a bill that passed the House with an overwhelming bipartisan vote, endorsed by law enforcement and civil rights leaders alike, with 11 Republican co-sponsors and filibuster-proof majority support in the Senate, and an agreement between the relevant committee Chairman and Ranking Member for inclusion in the end-of-year package, fails to make it to the Presidents desk, Holly Harris, president and executive director of the Justice Action Network, said. In a political environment where the parties compete for who can be more pro-criminal, the Democrats will always win. The SSA will give judges the flexibility and discretion they need to impose stiff sentences on the most serious drug lords and cartel bosses, while enabling nonviolent offenders to return more quickly to their families and communities.. However, despite bipartisan support for both bills, Senate Republicans shot them down, but with plenty of help from Senate Democrats and the Biden Administration. |work=Legislation Then, Sen Charles Grassley (R-IA), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee and introduced his SMART Cocaine Sentencing Act (S. 4116), which watered down EQUAL and put retroactivity in the hands of the Dept of Justice. The act also proposes to trade the language of "Felony Drug Offense" in 841 with "serious drug felony" or "serious violent felony," the new language from the FIRST STEP Act of 2018. I will keep fighting to get this commonsense, bipartisan legislation through the Senate with my colleague, Senator Lee.. A letter from Bushman and his group to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) -- just one of several letters written by the Smarter Sentencing Act opponents that Bushman said are floating around Capitol Hill -- argues that federal policy should not be driven by "second-order effects of America's drug problem" like incarceration costs. Tweets & replies The central remaining sentencing reform in the Durbin-Lee legislation would reduce mandatory minimum penalties for certain nonviolent drug offenses. Moreover, the current chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee is Senator Durbin and the current President campaigned on a platform that included an express promise to work for the passage of legislation to repeal mandatory minimums at the federal level. 4.Sentencing modifications for certain drug offenses. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that some crack cocaine offenders sentenced to . Additionally, organizations were behind the bill and actively encouraging its passage. Sentencing reform is dead for another two years. So in other words, it would look like this: such person shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment which may not be less than 10 5 years or more than life and if death or serious bodily injury results from the use of such substance shall be not less than 20 years or more than lifeIf any person commits such a violation after a prior conviction for a serious drug felony or serious violent felonyhas become final, such person shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 15 10years and not more than life imprisonment and if death orserious bodily injury results from the use of such substance shall be sentenced to life imprisonment. Meanwhile, the less culpable little fish are yoked with high mandatory minimums. Washington, D.C. 20005 Phone: 410-244-5444
The FSA is the law that reduces the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. In the wake of basketball star Len Bias death in 1988, Congress passed the draconian Anti Drug Abuse Act, which equated one gram of crack cocaine to 100 gramsof cocaine powder. Still, EQUAL had a chance until Sen Tom Cotton (RAR) single-handedly stopped the Senate from considering the bill last Wednesday. Sens. Baltimore, MD 21201
The original text reduces sentences by about half. Since then, the mandatory minimums paradigm has come under fire for three primary reasons: the reallocation of power from judges to prosecutors; the extension of racism and classism; and the failure to advance community safety. FAMMs focus on ending a one-size-fits-all punishment structure has led to reforms to sentencing and prison policies at the state and federal level and is paving the way to programs that support rehabilitation for the 94% of all prisoners who will return to our neighborhoods one day. 3382) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and it gained cosponsors from both parties. It goes without saying that this would be a great bill if it manages to pass Congress and get to President Obama. Visit us on Mastodon It is related to the Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013, the Federal Prison Reform Act of 2013 (S. 1783) and others, in an effort to deal with the over-crowded, and under-funded, federal prison system. We think all mandatory minimum sentencing laws should be repealed, Ring said. But nothing can stop politicians from talking, even during vacations. 3713 Sentencing Reform Act of 2015. (ii)by striking "not be less than 10 years" and inserting "not be less than 5 years"". Lee and Durbin first introduced the Smarter Sentencing Act in 2013. United States Senators Bring Forth Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021. Zero. The Senate version of 2013/2014, called S 1410, was introduced by Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021, S. 1013, 117th Cong.. {{cite web We hope to enable educators to build lesson plans centered around any bill or vote in Congress, even those as recent as yesterday. He has promised clemency reform. The central remaining sentencing reform in the Durbin-Lee legislation would reduce mandatory minimum penalties for certain nonviolent drug offenses. The bipartisanSmarter Sentencing Act of 2021would enact a narrower reform, reducing mandatory minimums for certain non-violent drug offenses and making other reforms retroactive. He can and should instruct federal prosecutors to refrain from charging and seeking mandatory sentences, especially in drug cases, wherepopular opposition to mandatory minimumsis strongest. Please join our advisory group to let us know what more we can do. The text goes on further directing the United States Sentencing Commission to consider the safety of the public when reducing the sentences of offenders and the Attorney General to report on the results of the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015. It is titled " S.1013 - A bill to focus limited Federal resources on the most serious offenders.". Founded in 1991, FAMM is helping transform Americas criminal justice system by uniting the voices of impacted families and individuals and elevating the issues all across the country. (1) the mandate of the United States Sentencing Commission, under section 994 (g) of title 28, United States Code, to formulate the sentencing guidelines in such a way as to "minimize the likelihood that the Federal prison population will exceed the capacity of the Federal prisons"; The important but piecemeal work of criminal justice reform continued last week with two significant bills being introduced in the Senate. The Smarter Sentencing Act, which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, would take some of the sting out of federal drug sentencing. EQUAL passed the House with bipartisan support and had what seemed to be a veto-proof majority of 50 Democrat supporters and 11 Republican Senate co-sponsors. This page is sourced primarily from As Reason magazine said last week, it wasnt just the close of just any year. Unfortunately, to convince recalcitrant senators to support it, the retroactivity portions of the law were stripped out. And we will start all over again, but with a much unfriendlier House of Representatives. The Senate bill, now named S.2123: Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, was revised by Charles Grassley R-IA. Inflexible, harsh sentences exacerbate crime and racial disparities alike. That gives it a fighting chance of passing in todays barely Democrat-controlled Congress.. The United States Senate has Bought forth the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021, which will do much for mandatory minimums and "Couriers" if passed. Any judges looking for future promotions are going to think twice about letting violent criminals go or giving them a slap on the wrist, rather than following the law and imposing serious sentences for those who have committed serious crimes., [Editors note: While it is correct that Cruz has been described by one conservative columnist as being like a serpent covered in Vaseline who treats the American people like two-bit suckers in 10-gallon hats, some maintain that there are good snakes in Texas (but Sen. Cruz is not on their list). Finally, mandatory minimums do not promote community safety. The bill was introduced on July 31, 2013, by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and referred to the Judiciary Committee on October 20, 2013. The SSAwould turn the mandatory life sentence into a mandatory minimum of 25 years. It gained momentum on January 30, 2014 when the Senate Judiciary Committee passed it[5][6] and agreed to move the bill to the floor for additional work. It still has a long way to go before it will become law, but it is off to a good start. rburks@famm.org. May 1, 2023
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