"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. Posted by: Elisia | Mar 26, 2021 5:35:17 PM. 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. Preventive monitoring of conditions in American prisons can help shine a light on what needs to change. It would also replace the same portions in 841(b)(1)(B) from 5 years to two years (100 grams of a mix containing a detectable amount of heroin, 500 grams of cocaine, 28 grams of cocaine base, 1 gram of LSD, 100 kilograms or a mixture of a detectible amount of marijuana, 5 grams of meth or 50 grams of a substance containing meth) and from 10 years to 5 years. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Baltimore, MD 21201
The important but piecemeal work of criminal justice reform continued last week with two significant bills being introduced in the Senate. But reformers pushed back, and by mid-century a rehabilitative sentencing model began to replace the punitive model. Were looking to learn more about who uses GovTrack and what features you find helpful or think could be improved. 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. FAX: 410-934-3208. Sure, the publics thirst for vengeance is slaked by such toughness.
smarter sentencing act | Legal Information Services Associates LLC 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. Attempts to stitch up the tattered old paradigm are futile and will not eradicate the spreading stain of racial inequity.
Drug and 924(c) Sentence Reduction, Retroactivity Bills Introduced The Case For the Smarter Sentencing Act - The Heritage Foundation PDF Bill Summary: Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021 S. 1013 Our public interest mission means we will never put our service behind a paywall. 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? Second, the Smarter Sentencing Act would make the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA) retroactive. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that some crack cocaine offenders sentenced to . 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 The bipartisanSmarter Sentencing Act of 2021would enact a narrower reform, reducing mandatory minimums for certain non-violent drug offenses and making other reforms retroactive. The full list of cosponsors includes:Sens. The Act was passed by a vote of 13 to 5. That is, if a prosecutor charges someone with a 20-year mandatory minimum at the outset of a case and that person is found guilty, the judge not only has no power to change the charge, but is legally bound to put that person in prison for at least 20 years regardless of whether they were a leader or a lackey.
Sen. Angus King co-sponsors the 'Smarter Sentencing Act' How You Can Take Action: 1. 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.
All Info - S.1013 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Smarter Sentencing Act Write your legislator today! But the MORE Act that passed the House in the last Congress the one with criminal retroactivity received only five Republican votes. 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. All rights reserved. Bills numbers restart every two years. 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. Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021, S. 1013, 117th Cong.. {{cite web SmarterSentencing would also create a new category of `courier for a defendant whose role was limited to transporting or storing drugs or money. This bill was introduced on March 25, 2021, in a previous session of Congress, but it did not receive a vote. I certainly hope that it passes this year. 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). 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. Third, and perhaps most significantly, the Smarter Sentencing Act would lower the mandatory minimum sentences under 21 U.S.C. This page is sourced primarily from 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. The SSAwould turn the mandatory life sentence into a mandatory minimum of 25 years. As for marijuana, the Senates failure to act comes as a repudiation of Bidens efforts for pot reform. 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.
Sentencing Reform: Smarter Sentencing Act (@SentencingR - Twitter If you stayed awake in high school, you recall that every Congress lasts two years. Ordered Reported, Reintroduced Bill 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.. Several important reforms from theSmarter Sentencing Actwere included in the landmark First Step Act, which was enacted into law in 2018. 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
FAMM The Smarter Sentencing Act promotes the value of proportional punishment by addressing excessive sentences for those convicted of federal drug offenses. Several important reforms from the Smarter Sentencing Act were included in the landmark First Step Act, which was enacted into law in 2018. The mandatory minimum for a courier under 21 USC 960, the importation statute, would essentially be cut in half. Richard Durbin U.S. Senate 711 Hart Senate Building Washington, D.C. 20510 The Hon. ., Our current federal sentencing laws are out of date and often counterproductive,said Sen. Lee. Meanwhile, S.1014 the First Step Implementation Act is equally significant. Additionally, the bill corrects a weird anomaly in the First Step Act that redefined prior drug cases for which a defendant can get an 851 enhancement (which increases the mandatory minimum where the defendant has certain prior drug convictions) to limit such priors to crimes punishable by more than 10 years for which the defendant was actually sentenced to more than a year. Our burgeoning prison population traces much of its growth to the increasing number and length of certain federal mandatory sentences. Meanwhile, the less culpable little fish are yoked with high mandatory minimums. But somehow, when the public sees the same defendant, bent and gray, shuffling across the prison yard a quarter century later, the tough sentence seems pretty wasteful. The House of Representatives version, known as HR920, was re-introduced by Idaho Republican Raul Labrador in February 2015. The text of the 140 plus page bill was posted at the Judicial Committee's website,. Even though federal prosecutors all of whom are subject to supervision by the Department of Justice have long been the primary proponents of mandatory minimums, Attorney General Merrick Garland affirmed this position during his confirmation hearings: We should . 1013 (117th) In 2018, Republicans passed the pro-criminal First Step Act. 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. We think all mandatory minimum sentencing laws should be repealed, Ring said. The state attorneys general want legislation to change that. In short, federal incarceration has become one of our nations biggest expenditures, dwarfing the amount spent on law enforcement. His legislative record is riddled with bills he supported, and sometimes wrote, that filled BOP cells and encouraged states to do the same. It would not affect mandatory minimums in21 USC 841(b). If you can, please take a few minutes to help us improve GovTrack for users like you. 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. Lee and Durbin first introduced theSmarter Sentencing Actin 2013. 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. Unfortunately, to convince recalcitrant senators to support it, the retroactivity portions of the law were stripped out. The principle that underlies mandatory minimums is dehumanization. The confusion was compounded because we were unable to locate a draft of the, Currently, a single misdemeanor in ones background can disqualify the defendant from, After years of urging by the Sentencing Commission and studies showing that Congress rationale for the, Currently, the Byzantine sentencing regime in, The bill does not explicitly make any change it proposes retroactive other than the extension of the, Legal Information Services Associates LLC, Showing Some Compassion: 18 USC 3582(c)(1)(A)(i), Blue Christmas for Criminal Justice Reform Update for December 27, 2022, Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act, EQUAL Act But Unequal Reform? The Schumer bill has been released as a working draft but has yet to be formally introduced. As for the two new bills, introduction hardly means approval. 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.