Request that they cosponsor the Smarter Sentencing Act! Join GovTrack.uss Inner Circle With a Yearly Membership, In retaliation for prosecutor Alvin Bragg indicting Trump, ALVIN Act would ban federal funds for, On March 29, Arizona Republican Andy Biggs introduced a (possible record) 521 bills in one day, No More Political Prosecutions Act would give presidents like Trump option to move their legal. 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. Sure, the publics thirst for vengeance is slaked by such toughness. SmarterSentencing would also create a new category of `courier for a defendant whose role was limited to transporting or storing drugs or money. The mandatory minimum for a courier under 21 USC 960, the importation statute, would essentially be cut in half. Letter to Sens Charles Schumer and Mitch McConnell (September 2, 2021), Washington Examiner, Biden promised to address over-incarceration. Were looking for feedback from educators about how GovTrack can be used and improved for your classroom. After years of urging by the Sentencing Commission and studies showing that Congress rationale for the ADA that crack was more addictive and crack offenses more violent was bunkum, Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act in 2010. It would not affect mandatory minimums in21 USC 841(b). 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 Justice Roundtable, Durbin, Lee Reintroduce Smarter Sentencing Act (Nov. 16). ), 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. 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. While the House also passed the MORE Act to decriminalize marijuana, the measure has been dead on arrival in the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) announced plans to draft his own version of the bill. Both version had been moved to committee for further discussion. The bill did not have any further action in the legislative season as was re-introduced as the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015 (or S502) by Republican Senator of Utah Mike Lee. Washington, D.C. 20005 First Step adjusted mandatory life in 841(b)(1)(A) to 25 years, and mandatory 20 years in the same subsection to 15 years. 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. The Schumer bill has been released as a working draft but has yet to be formally introduced. (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"; |date=March 25, 2021 But nothing can stop politicians from talking, even during vacations. The bill is cosponsored by ten Democratic senators, including three presidential contenders, making the likelihood it will pass in the Senate virtually zero. At the same time, Durbin and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced S.1014, the First Step Implementation Act of 2021. Document Citations. 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. Durbin and Grassley both think a Second Step Act is needed to implement sentencing changes in the First Step law by making them retroactive, midterms are coming up in a little more than 6 months and campaign-season politics surrounding criminal justice reform threaten broader GOP support. cutting mandatory minimums in the drug trafficking laws. The Smarter Sentencing Act, which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, would take some of the sting out of federal drug sentencing. 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). 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. 2021. 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. The United States Senate has Bought forth the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021, which will do much for mandatory minimums and "Couriers" if passed. Most of the original text was lined through and new text was incorporated. (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. 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 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. All Info - S.1013 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Smarter Sentencing Act The bipartisan bill introduction was led by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). 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. U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley scheduled sentencing for Aug. 10, 2023. As Reason magazine said last week, it wasnt just the close of just any year. Under current law, a defendant must be in Category I to benefit from the safety valve. Under the new law, if passed, someone could have a serious conviction on their record and still be eligible. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D- Ill.) and cosponsored by 11 of their colleagues. This is part of a new project to develop better tools for bringing real-time legislative data into the classroom. The SSAwould make the FSA retroactive, permitting defendants sentenced harshly prior to the adoption of the law eligible for resentencing, at their judges discretion, to a more reasonable term. Download PDF II 117th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1013 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 25, 2021 Of all the criminal justice reform bills in Congress the First Step Implementation Act (S.1014), the Smarter Sentencing Act (S.1013), the COVID-19 Safer Detention Act (S.312), the Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act (S.601), the EQUAL Act (S.79) and the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (H.R. We hope to enable educators to build lesson plans centered around any bill or vote in Congress, even those as recent as yesterday. 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. The year 2021 was widely seen as the end of a dark era and the beginning of a brighter one. It would be an excellent starting point to developing a less destructive drug-sentencing scheme. A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law. But the MORE Act that passed the House in the last Congress the one with criminal retroactivity received only five Republican votes. The House had 38 co-sponsors (24 Democrat and 14 Republican). First Step adjusted mandatory life in 841(b)(1)(A) to 25 years, and mandatory 20 years in the same subsection to 15 years. |publisher=GovTrack.us Racial disparities in the application of mandatory minimums are a particularly stark illustration of Wilkersons thesis. And with mid-terms putting all of the House and a third of Senate up for re-election in November and crime rates shooting up, getting legislators on board for criminal justice reform is going to be more challenging. Young Americans have historically been the least involved in politics, despite the huge consequences policies can have on them. And then there are demagogues like Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas). In the words of the members of the bipartisan U.S. 3617), or for that matter anything else. 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 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.
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