Examples abound for successful alternative methods that can greatly improve the current criminal legal system. 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. Baltimore, MD 21201
But as is the case with so many New Years expectations, quite a bit also stayed the same. 4.Sentencing modifications for certain drug offenses. He wrote, As a former influential senator and Judiciary Committee chairman, President Joe Biden is at least partially responsible for the explosive growth of our federal prison population. 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. United States Senators Bring Forth Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021 It detailed the costs associated with inmates serving life sentences and detailed the consideration for public safety should modifying the guidelines and reducing the sentences occur. The bill was held over during several meetings in the fourth quarter of 2013. 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. 1100 H Street NW, Suite 1000 The central remaining sentencing reform in the Durbin-Lee legislation would reduce mandatory minimum penalties for certain nonviolent drug offenses. A 65% bill would stand a chance of passage approaching zero. Florida experienced a50 percent spikein crimeafterenacting mandatory minimums. When she did introduce it, the bill never even got a committee hearing. The United States Senate has Bought forth the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021, which will do much for mandatory minimums and "Couriers" if passed. Law Enforcement Lobby Quietly Tries To Kill Sentencing Reform - HuffPost 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 judge is prohibited from considering that persons individual circumstances or showing mercy. Since 1980, the number of inmates in federal prison has increased by 653%. Any of these reforms would be a step toward establishing a new paradigm that abjures mandatory minimums and respects human dignity. 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. If the new law is passed, someone who was sentenced for a crack cocaine offense before the FSA was enacted could file a motion and seek a shorter sentence under the FSA sentencing scheme. |quote=Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021 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. 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. The bill's Bi-Partisan support from both the Republican and Democratic parties helped increase its likelihood of moving through committee hearings. "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. 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. Highlights of the measure include. 911 (2015) Colleen Shannon Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.uic.edu/lawreview Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, and the Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons Attempts to stitch up the tattered old paradigm are futile and will not eradicate the spreading stain of racial inequity. The bill does not explicitly make any change it proposes retroactive other than the extension of the FSA, but a fair reading of Section 5 of the SSAsuggests that the Sentencing Commission should do so according to its retroactivity procedures. Sen. Angus King co-sponsors the 'Smarter Sentencing Act' 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. 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. "Reducing the federal prison population has become urgent, with that population almost three times where it was in 1991.". (9 Democrats, 2 Independents, 2 Republicans). FAMM releases statement on the introduction of the Smarter Sentencing We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues. No one knows. By the summer recess, H.R.920 had 52 co-sponsors and S. 502 had 12. In 2013, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) established a six-month, bipartisan Over-Criminalization Task Force to address the scope and size of the federal criminal code and regulations. The 10-year mandatory minimum (for 1 kilo or more of heroin or five kilos or more of cocaine) would drop to five years. 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). A new law that would reduce drug sentences passed a major Senate hurdle this week with bipartisan support. 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. On March 25, 2021, Senators Durbin and several others introduced the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021. 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The sleeper in S.1014is that it would let virtually anyone sentenced under 841(c) prior to the 2018 First Step Actseek a reduction using a procedure a lot like the Fair Sentencing Act retroactivity motions. Apr 26, 2023, But presidents still wouldnt be able to move their legal cases to the shows The Peoples Court or Divorce Court. It might have even set a record. The House version of the Act had 18 co-sponsors by February 2014. Thus, a crack defendant sentenced August 3, 2009, was hammered with the 100:1 ratio, while a defendant sentenced August 3, 2010, was treated more in line with what a cocaine powder defendant would face. 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. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that some crack cocaine offenders sentenced to . Youre more than a vote, so support GovTrack today with a tip of any amount: Or keep using GovTrack for free! cutting mandatory minimums in 21 USC 960 for drug mules carrying drugs into the country courier in half. On New Years Day, the San Francisco Chronicle called for a targeted bill to abolish mandatory minimums, said, The good news is that criminal justice reform can be accomplished with relatively limited expenditures compared to, for example, Build Back Betters sweeping expansion of the social safety net. Bupkis. Last week, Unfortunately, soft-on-crime policies have been, at times, a bipartisan problem. And neither is the rumor that everyone will get a sentence cut because of COVID. At the same time, Durbin and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced S.1014, the First Step Implementation Act of 2021. That should make sentencing changes that much harder, Politico said. 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. Write your legislator today! The Brennan Center crafts innovative policies and fights for them in Congress and the courts. Launched in 2004, GovTrack helps everyone learn about and track the activities of the United States Congress. At The Law Office of Jeremy Gordon, we fight aggressively for our clients. Data via the congress project. The Bill: If passed, the Smarter Sentencing Act would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for drug trafficking and some drug importation offenses. The, Additionally, the bill corrects a weird anomaly in the, As for the two new bills, introduction hardly means approval. But the MORE Act that passed the House in the last Congress the one with criminal retroactivity received only five Republican votes. But reformers pushed back, and by mid-century a rehabilitative sentencing model began to replace the punitive model. 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. But some marijuana and cocaine reform even though it was not quite what was in the MORE Act and EQUAL Act that passed the House looked likely as late as last week. The Smarter Sentencing Act: Achieving Fairness Through Financially 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. I will keep fighting to get this commonsense, bipartisan legislation through the Senate with my colleague, Senator Lee., Our current federal sentencing laws are out of date and often counterproductive, said Lee. 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. While some lonely voices are calling for passage of such a bill, with Democrats in control of the White House and both houses of Congress, expect a cacophony of Republicans claims that Democrats are to blame for rising crime rates. Many provisions introduced in previous versions were ultimately included in the First Step Act of 2018, of which FAMM played an active role in securing passage. (ii)by striking "not be less than 10 years" and inserting "not be less than 5 years"". For prompt, courteous and skilled representation as your federal criminal defense attorney, contact us today to schedule a free phone consultation. Over the past century, the mandatory minimums paradigm has moved through the second phase of a paradigm shift the crisis phase becoming the subject of dispute and controversy. Additionally, last years SSA made existing mandatory minimums inapplicable to a defendant who functions a courier; andestablishes new, shorter mandatory minimum prison terms for a courier. 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. The confusion was compounded because we were unable to locate a draft of theSmarter Sentencing Act of 2017 anywhere over the next 10 days. In contrast, studies show that shorter sentences in drug casesneither diminish public safetynorincrease drug abuse. With infrastructure and the $3.5 trillion spending bills taking center stage in Congress, it is unlikely that criminal justice reform will get any attention until next year. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. 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., 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. Even Grassley, who is not a co-sponsor but is unapologetically pro-reform, has outlined concerns about whether EQUAL could garner enough Republican support in the Senate to pass. Congressmen Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Raul Labrador (R-ID) introduced the Smarter Sentencing Act (H.R. Currently, a single misdemeanor in ones background can disqualify the defendant from safety valve consideration. WASHINGTON Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) cosponsored the Smarter Sentencing Act, bipartisan legislation designed to bring judicial discretion and flexibility to non-violent drug charge sentencing. The Smarter Sentencing Act also adds a courier exception to the importation statute of 21 usc 960, the importation statute. (202) 224-7703, Durbin, Lee Introduce Smarter Sentencing Act. Importantly, the bill makes its changes retroactive, enabling people who now have mandatory minimum sentenceschanged by the bill to ask their judges for a sentence reduction. Another study similarly finds that some federal prosecutors charge Black and Latino individuals more often than white individuals with possession or sale of a quantity of drugs just sufficient to trigger a mandatory minimum; the disparity is highest in states with higher levels of racial animus.. The votes of at least four members are required for the Commission to promulgate amendments to the Guidelines. The Commission has been paralyzed by lack of quorum since December 2018. Both parties and both chambers of Congress agreed to revisions to federal sentencing guidelines and the mandatory minimums. 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. For nearly three decades, FAMM has united the voices of affected families, the formerly incarcerated, and a range of stakeholders and advocates to fight for a more fair and effective justice system. Democrat. United States Senators Bring Forth Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021. To make matters worse, Garland chosenotto reinstate a 2013 Holder policy that both directed prosecutors to decline to charge a mandatory minimum in low-level, non-violent drug offenses and explicitly acknowledged that such sentences do not promote public safety, deterrence, and rehabilitation. After twenty years defending people charged with federal crimes, Ive learned that prosecutors are rarely agents of change.