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. However, Durbins office said the central remaining sentencing reform in the Lee-Durbin legislation would reduce mandatory minimum penalties for certain nonviolent drug offenses.. Examples abound for successful alternative methods that can greatly improve the current criminal legal system. Esta pgina no est disponible en espaol. It also added language making the reforms applicable to past cases. Well be in touch. Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. The bill was held over during several meetings in the fourth quarter of 2013. See Terms of Service, TWO BILLS CUTTING MANDATORY MINIMUMS, PROPOSING RETROACTIVITY, INTRODUCED INSENATE, Mandatory minimum penalties have played a large role in the explosion of the U.S. prison population, often leading to sentences that are unfair, fiscally irresponsible, and a threat to public safety, Sen. Durbin said in a press release. 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. In fact, earlier this year,Garland reinstateda2010 Holder policythat incorporated along-standing directive to federal prosecutors: Where two crimes have the same statutory maximum and the same guideline range, but only one contains a mandatory minimum penalty, the one with the mandatory minimum should be charged. |quote=Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021 We are grateful to the sponsors for recognizing that this needed reform should apply to those currently serving excessive sentences.. We must instead heedJustice Sonia Sotomayors messagethat, until we value the lives, rights, and liberties of those on the receiving end of the system, our justice system will continue to be anything but.. endobj 13 Cosponsors Sentencing Reform: Smarter Sentencing Act @SentencingR SUPPORT PAGE FOR SENTENCING REFORM *TITLE S.1013-117th CONGRESS (2021-2022): SMARTER SENTENCING ACT 2021* Pennsylvania, USA Joined June 2021 0 Photos and videos Photos and videos Tweets TweetsTweets, current page. The Smarter Sentencing Act, an updated version of the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2019 (which went nowhere), continues the mandatory minimum adjustments to 21 USC 841 (b), the sentencing section of the drug trafficking statute begun by the First Step Act. It might have even set a record. The five-year mandatory minimum (for 100 grams or more of heroin or 500 grams or more of cocaine) would drop to two years. Half measures wont be effective; empirical work suggests that theObama administrations efforts to temper mandatory minimumsin drug cases did little to reduce sentences or racial disparities. A lot of what had been contained in prior versions of the SSA, a bill which has been introduced in every Congress since 2013, was included in the First Step Act. But both senior senators acknowledge its not a glide path forward, Politico said, particularly given the GOP messaging on rising crime ahead of the 2022 midterms a focus that was on full display during Ketanji Brown Jacksons Supreme Court hearings last month., Jackson was blasted last month by a few Republican senators for being too soft on sentencingchild sex abuse and drug offenders. Richard Durbin (D-Illinois), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and 11 cosponsors introduced S.1013, the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021, seeking once again to reform some drug mandatory minimums. On November 5, 2015 there was a significant move with the legislation. Mandatory minimums provide prosecutors with weapons to bludgeon defendants into effectively coerced plea bargains and convince people to cooperate against others. Committee on the Judiciary, Durbin, Lee Introduce Smarter Sentencing Act (March 26, 2021), Congressional Record, Statements On Introduced Bills And Joint Resolutions (S.1013 and S.1014) (March 25, 2021), Sentencing Law and Policy, Senators Durbin and Grassley re-introduce Smarter Sentencing Act to reduce federal drug mandatory minimums (March 26, 2021), Your email address will not be published. "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. (2023). The chair of the Commission issued a statement on the same day saying that "This modest reduction in drug penalties is an important step toward reducing the problem of prison overcrowding at the federal level in a proportionate and fair manner," said Judge Patti B. Saris, chair of the commission. The Brennan Center crafts innovative policies and fights for them in Congress and the courts. Mar 25, 2021 117 th Congress (2021-2023) Status Died in a previous Congress This bill was introduced on March 25, 2021, in a previous session of Congress, but it did not receive a vote. Florida experienced a50 percent spikein crimeafterenacting mandatory minimums. We think all mandatory minimum sentencing laws should be repealed, Ring said. The SSA would cut the mandatory minimums applicable to couriers by half. She previously served as an attorney with the Federal Defender Program in Chicago. The Senate has to confirm at least three new members and none has yet been nominated by President Biden before the Commission can do anything. Phone: (202) 822-6700, FAMM releases statement on the introduction of the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021, FAMM and NACDL Present: The Vanishing Trial, FAMMsubmits testimony in support of Illinois medical release bill, FAMM releases statement followingSenate introduction of the First Step Implementation Act. It still has a long way to go before it will become law, but it is off to a good start. Visit us on Instagram, If sponsors had their way, the lyric in Youre a Grand Old Flag would change its description of America to a country where theres never Apr 27, 2023, March 29 was an unusually busy day in Congress for one Arizona Republican. The committees assigned to this bill passed the act by a vote of 15-5 and sent it to the House or Senate as a whole for consideration on October 22, 2015. It also provides a retroactivity provision for the court to impose a reduced sentence for those sentenced before this act gets signed after considering the 3553(a) factors. While the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the crack-cocaine disparity bill last year, it has yet to schedule a markup. 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 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. The Senate bill, now named S.2123: Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, was revised by Charles Grassley R-IA. Introduced in Senate (03/25/2021) Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021 This bill reduces statutory mandatory minimum penalties for certain drug offenses, requires reporting on the impact of cost savings from the reductions, and establishes a public database of federal criminal offenses. The hearings and testimony that occurred in 2013 in relation to the 2013 version continued to be on record and in support of the 2015 version. A bill to focus limited Federal resources on the most serious offenders. Senior Senator for Illinois. "Sec. The bill also refines a number of Sentencing Commission goals such as keeping down the prison population and ensuring that Guidelines dont have adverse racial impacts. , as President Biden has suggested, seek the elimination of mandatory minimum[s].. Only a few bills have been voted out of committee in the Senate the, TWO BILLS CUTTING MANDATORY MINIMUMS, PROPOSING RETROACTIVITY, INTRODUCED INSENATE, Mandatory minimum penalties have played a large role in the explosion of the U.S. prison population, often leading to sentences that are unfair, fiscally irresponsible, and a threat to public safety, Sen. Durbin said in a press release. The bill would also apply these changes retroactively, giving people currently in prison an opportunity to receive a new sentence under the reformed law. This misguided push by Republicans to win applause from liberals strengthened the hand of radicals like George Soros. Any bill now pending in the House or Senate that has not passed will disappear on Jan 3, when the new 2-year Congress the 118th convenes. % The only question is when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will bring it up for a vote. Required fields are marked *, There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of the law and in the name of justice. ~ Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de la Brde et de Montesquieu, The Spirit of Law (1748), Copyright 2022, LISA Foundation and Legal Information Services Associates LLC. Thank you for joining the GovTrack Advisory Community! Alison Siegler is a clinical professor of law and the founding director of the Federal Criminal Justice Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School. The First Step Act was a critical move in the right direction, but there is much more work to be done to reform our criminal justice system. The Smarter Sentencing Act is endorsed by the following organizations: American Conservative Union, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, Dream Corps JUSTICE, Due Process Institute, FAMM, Federal Public and Community Defenders, FreedomWorks, Justice Action Network, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Prison Fellowship, and R Street Institute. Prosecutors use of mandatory minimums inover halfof all federal cases disproportionately impacts poor people of color and has driven theexponential growthin the federal prison population in recent decades. Bills numbers restart every two years. Meanwhile, S.1014 the First Step Implementation Act is equally significant. |author=117th Congress (2021) Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber. 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. 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. The sheer number of motions likely to be filed might be enough to give Congress pause on this one. such person shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment which may not be less than 5 2 years and not more than 40 years and if death or serious bodily injuryresults from the use of such substance shall be not less than 20 years or more than life, a fine not to exceed the greater of that authorized in accordance with the provisions of title 18 or $5,000,000 if the defendant is an individual or $25,000,000 if the defendant is other than an individual, or both. And then there are demagogues like Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas). establishes new, shorter mandatory minimum prison terms for a courier. It was clear last summer that the First Step Implementation Act, the Smarter Sentencing Act, the COVID-19 Safer Detention Act (and the Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act were going nowhere. That means there are other bills with the number S. 2850. Highlights of the measure include. The Judiciary chair ranked criminal justice as high on his list of priorities, though he said legislation addressing crime and law enforcement may be just as challenging as immigration a famously tough area of bipartisan compromise on Capitol Hill. <> As Isabel Wilkersonwrites, our countrys racial caste system relies on dehumanization to lock the marginalized outside the norms of humanity so that any action against them is seen as reasonable. So many of the horrors Wilkerson catalogs in the program of purposeful dehumanization instituted by the Nazis and by the United States during chattel slavery have analogues in todays carceral state: anonymous uniforms replacing clothing, inmate numbers supplanting names, the shaving of heads, the roll calls. [2] The Senate version (S.502) had gained 12 Bi-partisan co-sponsors by late May 2015; the house version (H.R.920) had 43 Bi-partisan co-sponsors by the same date. Congress was recessed all last week and for part of this one, so no legislative progress was made on the EQUAL Act (S.79), the MORE Act (H.R. (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. The Brennan Center works to build an America that is democratic, just, and free. When the SAFE Banking Act, a marijuana bill, passed the House last year, it got 106 Republican votes, demonstrating that the GOP can deliver votes on cannabis legislation. Second, a lot of criticism of the President over the CARES Act. It doesnt have to be that way with criminal justice reform (January 1, 2022), S. 1014: First Step Implementation Act of 2021, Brookings Institution, The numbers for drug reform in Congress dont add up (December 22, 2021), Real Clear Politics, Recall, Remove & Replace Every Last Soros Prosecutor (December 20, 2021). 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. The bad news is everything else. And then there are demagogues like Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas). This is the one from the 116 th Congress. I will keep fighting to get this commonsense, bipartisan legislation through the Senate with my colleague, Senator Lee.. Last week, he wrote in Real Clear Politics: Unfortunately, soft-on-crime policies have been, at times, a bipartisan problem. More than 60% of federal district court judges agree that existing mandatory minimums for all offenses are too high. Since 1980, the number of inmates in federal prison has increased by 653%. Meanwhile, Durbin said hes concerned about a Second Step Acts prospects for passage, particularly given Republican accusations during Jacksons confirmation hearings that the justice-in-waiting was soft on crime. Write your legislator today! Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. The United States Sentencing Commission ( www.ussc.gov) prepared a publication called "Life Sentences in the Federal System" in February 2015. He added that if Democrats agree to certain provisions related to law enforcement, that might make it possible to get something done.. Sure, the publics thirst for vengeance is slaked by such toughness. 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. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that implementation of this provision would save taxpayers approximately $3 billion over ten years. Citations available for content in Chicago, APA and MLA format. It was proposed to strike "mandatory life imprisonment to "not less than 25 years. 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). The Smarter Sentencing Act: Achieving Fairness Through Financially Responsible Federal Sentencing Policies, 48 J. Marshall L. Rev. It would not affect mandatory minimums in21 USC 841(b). [4] Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015. A new law that would reduce drug sentences passed a major Senate hurdle this week with bipartisan support. Writing in the Washington Examiner last week, Matt Schlapp chairman of the American Conservative Union argued that Congress should act to ensure that CARES Act home confinees stay at home after the pandemic ends. About 50% of those federal inmates are serving sentences for drug-related offenses, increasing the taxpayer burden by more than 2,000%. 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. [1] It would do so in three ways: First, it would expand eligibility for the drug safety valve so that people with some criminal history up to Guidelines Category II would still be eligible. And we will start all over again, but with a much unfriendlier House of Representatives. Forget swinging the pendulum from tough-on-crime to leniency; it always swings back. rburks@famm.org. All of that would be great, but as Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor noted last week currently, six of the seven voting members seats are vacant. But, in keeping with the chaos that arises from a paradigm shift, by the mid-1970s, anti-imprisonment and anti-discrimination reformers on the left beganrailingagainst the rehabilitative model because it gave judges too much discretion, precipitating disparities. It would extend retroactivity to anyone sentenced for drug or stacked 924(c) offenses sentenced prior to the 2018 First Step Act and let judges waive criminal history limitations that keep defendants from getting the 18 USC 3553 safety value. In sum, the so-called 65% bill is like a pink unicorn: fun to imagine, but not real. 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. If anything here applies to you, contact us today. (ii)by striking "not be less than 10 years" and inserting "not be less than 5 years"". Were collecting the statements of stakeholder organizations. Heres how you can help. Under the proposed change, a couple of felonies will be too much, but more young defendants facing their first serious criminal charge would be sentenced under a scheme that let the judge weigh individual factors rather than applying an inflexible and harsh minimum sentence. Phone: 410-244-5444 The bill continued to gain momentum in the Senate and House. This is a project of Civic Impulse, LLC. Our burgeoning prison population traces much of its growth to the increasing number and length of certain federal mandatory sentences. 3713 Sentencing Reform Act of 2015. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss. The measure is also backed by Attorney General Eric Holder, although, oddly enough, it is opposed by the National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys, which calls the current drug-sentencing scheme well-constructed and well worth preserving., 1 N. Charles St., Suite 1301 One of the most important consequences of these confirmation hearings is there are district judges across the country who may have ambitions for elevations, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who led the charge against Judge Jackson, told CNN. Download PDF II 117th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1013 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 25, 2021 Second, the Smarter Sentencing Act would make the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA) retroactive. After answering yet another email about the mythical 65% bill legislation that purportedly would reduce everyones sentence to 65% of what the court imposed I thought I would lead with this sad news: There is no Santa Claus. This essay is part of the Brennan Centers series examining the punitive excess that has come to define Americas criminal legal system. The House of Representatives version, known as HR920, was re-introduced by Idaho Republican Raul Labrador in February 2015. Unfortunately, to convince recalcitrant senators to support it, the retroactivity portions of the law were stripped out. The United States Senate has Bought forth the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021, which will do much for mandatory minimums and "Couriers" if passed. What the current version contains is unclear, because the text of the proposed bill has not yet been released. For Media Inquiries: GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. Earlier Version Paradoxically, by criticizing arbitrary sentencing practices, these reformers (chief among them, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts) ultimately helped usher in the current tough-on-crime era. 802), by adding at the end the following: (2)in section 401(b)(1) (21 U.S.C. Letter to Sens Charles Schumer and Mitch McConnell (September 2, 2021), Washington Examiner, Biden promised to address over-incarceration. Politico ran an analysis last week reporting that Sens Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Charles Grassley (R-IA), the top Democrat and Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, are still talking about a merger of bills such as the First Step Implementation Act (S.1014), the Smarter Sentencing Act (S.1013), and the COVID-19 Safer Detention Act (S. 312) into a single narrow follow-up bill amending the First Step Act, Durbin and Grassley are calling aSecond Step Act. Under the language of the version in the Senate Judiciary Committee, it authorizes a court that imposed a sentence for a crack cocaine possession or trafficking offense committed before August 3, 2010, on motion of the defendant, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, the attorney for the government, or the court, to impose a reduced sentence as if provisions of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 were in effect at the time such offense was committed. 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). The Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021 indicates that a courier that is found guilty under 960(b)(1)(H) would be subject to a mandatory minimum of 5 years and not more than life (a non-courier would be looking at 10-L) and a courier that is found guilty under 960(b)(2)(H) would be subject to a mandatory minimum of 2 years to life (a non-courier would be looking at 5-L under this section). Additionally, organizations were behind the bill and actively encouraging its passage. It is titled S.1013 - A bill to focus limited Federal resources on the most serious offenders., As of this writing, the text of the act is not present on the bill page, but it is available on a page titled "Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.". Aimed at reducing the disparity in sentencing for crack versus powder cocaine offenses by making crack and powder sentences the same, it would have benefitted thousands of prisoners with retroactive relief. 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. The Smarter Sentencing Act (S.1013) is a bill in the United States Senate that would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for some federal drug offenses. The House had 38 co-sponsors (24 Democrat and 14 Republican). May 1, 2023