1013 (117th) We think all mandatory minimum sentencing laws should be repealed, Ring said. New Republic: Three Incredibly Popular Things That Congress Chose to Leave Out of the Spending Bill (December 20, 2022), Reason, Congress Yet Again Fails To Pass Crack Cocaine Sentencing Reforms (December 20, 2022), Marijuana Moment, Schumers last ditch cannabis banking push (December 19, 2022), Reason, Merrick Garlands New Charging Policy Aims To Ameliorate the Damage His Boss Did As a Drug Warrior (December 19, 2022), Beforeitsnews.com, The Failure To Enact Marijuana Banking and Crack Sentencing Reforms Is a Window on Congressional Dysfunction (December 22, 2022), Filter, The Limits of AGs Guidelines Against Crack-Powder Sentencing Disparity (December 21, 2022). This bill would eliminate the crack/powder disparity that results in longer mandatory minimum sentences for Black Americans; but it would not end mandatory minimums. This bill was introduced on March 25, 2021, in a previous session of Congress, but it did not receive a vote. Still, it appeared up until a week ago that some crack cocaine relief would be jammed into the giant end-of-year spending bill. 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. As written SmarterSentencing would also create a new category of `courier for a defendant whose role was limited to transporting or storing drugs or money. She previously served as an attorney with the Federal Defender Program in Chicago. Well be in touch. Our burgeoning prison population traces much of its growth to the increasing number and length of certain federal mandatory sentences. We hope to make GovTrack more useful to policy professionals like you. 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. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D- Ill.) and cosponsored by 11 of their colleagues. How You Can Take Action: 1. I will keep fighting to get this commonsense, bipartisan legislation through the Senate with my colleague, Senator Lee.. . 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. 3617), or for that matter anything else. They become casualties of a process that sets aside proportionality or mercy in favor of increasing the number of convictions. US Congress S1013 Summary 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. Indeed, there are thousands of Americans still serving draconian sentences authorized by some of then-Sen. Bidens bills., Meanwhile, a piece in the Deseret News made the conservative argument for the EQUAL Act, which would retroactively make crack cocaine sentencing levels equal to those of powder cocaine: The EQUAL Act already passed through the U.S. House Judiciary Committee with a vote of 36-5, garnering support from both sides of the aisle. The good news is that all of the talk about EQUAL which makes crack sentences equal to cocaine powder sentences suggests it has the support for passage. Lee said, 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.. 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. But reformers pushed back, and by mid-century a rehabilitative sentencing model began to replace the punitive model. Also, last years SSA reduced mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses specified in 21 USC 841(b)(1)(A) and (b)(1)(B): from 10 years to 5 years for a first-time high-level offense (e.g., one kilogram or more of heroin). It goes without saying that this would be a great bill if it manages to pass Congress and get to President Obama. Its the legislative equivalent to taking a knee in the final minute of a football game. Your poor, dumb peasant from El Cocador humping marijuana across the border or clueless young woman flying in to JFK from East Slobovia with heroin in the liner of her suitcase These are the couriers, the lowest of the low-level defendant being paid maybe two shekels for hauling someone elses big score. When she did introduce it, the bill never even got a committee hearing. Republicans who oppose the bill would almost certainly want to force vulnerable Senate Democrats to take tough amendment votes amid reports of rising violent crime in major cities and the approaching November election. In the House, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace (South Carolina) introduced the first GOP-sponsored bill in Congress to legalize marijuana, hinting that there may be openness to a bipartisan solution in the future. 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. 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. On November 5, 2015 there was a significant move with the legislation. At the federal level alone, mandatory minimum penalties form the cornerstone of the human caging system. 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. endobj 841(b)(1)(A) and (b)(1)(B). The United States Sentencing Commission scheduled a vote of for April 10, 2014, to consider a reduction in the base level offense of certain drug convictions. The American people deserve better.. I will keep fighting to get this commonsense, bipartisan legislation through the Senate with my colleague, Senator Lee.. Unfortunately, to convince recalcitrant senators to support it, the retroactivity portions of the law were stripped out. The sheer number of motions likely to be filed might be enough to give Congress pause on this one. A 65% bill would stand a chance of passage approaching zero. Your note is for you and will not be shared with anyone. We are experienced, and know what it takes to present a successful defense in a federal criminal case. First Step adjusted mandatory life in 841(b)(1)(A) to 25 years, and mandatory 20 years in the same subsection to 15 years. 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. 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. The dominant paradigm is vulnerable, and instituting a new paradigm is both possible and crucial. This is the one from the 117th Congress. So when will Congress get to any criminal justice reform measures? Grassley was enraged, blasting the Garland memo as demanding that prosecutors ignore the text and spirit of federal statutes [and] undermining legislative efforts to address this sentencing disparity. And just like that, when the text of the 4,000-page, $1.7 trillion spending bill was released, the watered-down EQUAL Act was nowhere to be found. Several of its provisions made it into theFirst Step Act, which was enacted into law in 2018, but the changes in mandatory minimums for most drug offenses would not. 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. The debate over crack versus powder cocaine has no basis in science, in rationality, or in ethics. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that implementation of this provision would save taxpayers approximately $3 billion over ten years. 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. The disparity has been diluted by Congress over the last decade the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act reformed the disparity to be 18 to 1 instead of 100 to 1, and the 2018 First Step Act made the . The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute, striving to uphold the values of democracy. ), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Angus King (I-Maine), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.). Lee and Durbin first introduced the Smarter Sentencing Act in 2013. (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. If you can, please take a few minutes to help us improve GovTrack for users like you. Would you like to join our advisory group to work with us on the future of GovTrack? "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. 3382) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and it gained cosponsors from both parties. Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience and may not be complete or accurate. Given that reform efforts by the Department of Justice would provide, at best, a temporary fix, congressional action is needed to shift the paradigm and mitigate racial inequality. The text of the 140 plus page bill was posted at the Judicial Committee's website,. 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. The United States Senate has Bought forth the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021, which will do much for mandatory minimums and "Couriers" if passed. 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. By last week, the only hope was for banking reform nothing for federal prisoners but even that was exempted from last weeks giant end-of-year spending bill, the last chance it had for passage. Senior Senator for Illinois. President Biden and his attorney general havedenounced mandatory minimums, as did former Attorney General Eric Holder. 802), by adding at the end the following: (2)in section 401(b)(1) (21 U.S.C. ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass. 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. By June 2014, 25 co-sponsoring Senators (17 Democrat, 6 Republican and 2 Independent) joined to show their support. By the summer recess, H.R.920 had 52 co-sponsors and S. 502 had 12. Thank you for joining the GovTrack Advisory Community! That deeply flawed legislation reduced sentences for crack dealers and granted early release to some child predators, carjackers, gang members, and bank robbers. In a political environment where the parties compete for who can be more pro-criminal, the Democrats will always win. 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. While Ohio State law professor Doug Berman is skeptical of their chances, he notes that prior iterations of [the. The document discussed the sentencing guidelines causing life sentences to be issued for various types of offenses. Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. 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. Since 1980, the number of inmates in federal prison has increased by 653%. We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, andsentencing issues. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. First, a letter sent last week by 25 state attorneys general to House and Senate leadership, urging an expansion of Section 404 of the First Step Act to include people sentenced under 21 USC 841(b)(1)(C). U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley scheduled sentencing for Aug. 10, 2023. Any bill introduced in the 117th Congress which began in January 2021 will stick around until the 117th expires a year from today. 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. The Bill: If passed, the Smarter Sentencing Act would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for drug trafficking and some drug importation offenses. At the same time, Durbin and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced S.1014, the First Step Implementation Act of 2021. This bill was introduced in the 117th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2021 to Jan 3, 2023. In October, the president pardoned thousands of people convicted of simple marijuana possession (although no one pardoned was in federal prison) and said his administration would review how the drug is categorized. But the MORE Act that passed the House in the last Congress the one with criminal retroactivity received only five Republican votes. 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. 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 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. As for marijuana, the Senates failure to act comes as a repudiation of Bidens efforts for pot reform. 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 Under 21 USC 960, the drug importation criminal statute, they get hammered with the same mandatory sentences as Mr. Big, the kingpin staying safely offshore. An online version of this release can be foundhere. The bill is cosponsored by ten Democratic senators, including three presidential contenders, making the likelihood it will pass in the Senate virtually zero. 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. rburks@famm.org. 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.
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