The Case For the Smarter Sentencing Act - The Heritage Foundation The House version of the Act had 18 co-sponsors by February 2014. For prompt, courteous and skilled representation as your federal criminal defense attorney, contact us today to schedule a free phone consultation. 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. 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. 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. A 65% bill would stand a chance of passage approaching zero. S.1013 - Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021 117th Congress (2021-2022) 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 clocks running out. We are experienced, and know what it takes to present a successful defense in a federal criminal case. . 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. S. 1013 (117 th ): Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021 - GovTrack.us 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. I certainly hope that it passes this year. 841(b)(1)) We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, andsentencing issues. 3617), or for that matter anything else. (2023). U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley scheduled sentencing for Aug. 10, 2023. Sponsor. Bills numbers restart every two years. 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.. (202) 224-7703, Durbin, Lee Introduce Smarter Sentencing Act. Visit us on Mastodon Further, it reduces the 15 years (If any person commits such a violation after a prior conviction for a serious drug felony or serious violent felony has become final, such person shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less than 15 years and not more than life imprisonment and if death or serious bodily injury results from the use of such substance shall be sentenced to life imprisonment) down to 10 years. Either MOREor CAOA would have been good for prisoners, but Democratic leaderships push of an alternative bill diluted the groundswell of support needed to get MORE passed. Lee and Durbin first introduced the Smarter Sentencing Act in 2013. There is no Easter Bunny. from life to 25 years for a high-level offense after two or more prior felony drug offenses, from 5 years to 2 years for a first-time low-level offense (e.g., 100 to 999 grams of heroin), and. The bad news is everything else. . 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. This activity took place on a related bill, S. 1152. The Justice Roundtable, Durbin, Lee Reintroduce Smarter Sentencing Act (Nov. 16). from 10 years to 5 years for a low-level offense after one prior felony drug offense. Second, prosecutors power over mandatory minimums in turn creates racial disparities, obliterating any pretense of an unbiased system. 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. (i)by striking "5 years" and inserting "2 years"; and Well be in touch. It was the end of 2020. cutting mandatory minimums in the drug trafficking laws. The Senate version of 2013/2014, called S 1410, was introduced by Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The politics are hard to predict: Democrats have one more seat in the Senate, while Republicans will take narrow control of the House. 1 0 obj The bill is sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D- Ill.) and cosponsored by 11 of their colleagues. A couple of bills before Congress would reduce but not eliminate mandatory minimums: the EQUAL Act (lowers minimums for crack to equal those of powder) has passed the House but hasnt yet cleared committee in the Senate; the MORE Act (decriminalizes marijuana retroactively) has been approved by a House committee but has not been passed by the House or Senate; the First Step Implementation Act (makes First Step mandatory minimum reductions retroactive) and the Smarter Sentencing Act (reduces mandatory minimum penalties for certain nonviolent drug offenses only) have not even cleared committee in either the House or Senate. If you can, please take a few minutes to help us improve GovTrack for users like you. 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. 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 If it did exist, it wouldnt get one now. 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 (someone looking for retroactive application of this section would also have to prove that they are a courier). Along with Durbin and Lee, the bill is cosponsored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Angus King (I-ME), and Tim Kaine (D-VA). ), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Angus King (I-Maine), and Tim Kaine (D-Va.). GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. Its the legislative equivalent to taking a knee in the final minute of a football game. It was proposed to strike "mandatory life imprisonment to "not less than 25 years. The mandatory minimum for a courier under 21 USC 960, the importation statute, would essentially be cut in half. The SSAwould turn the mandatory life sentence into a mandatory minimum of 25 years. Letter to Sens Charles Schumer and Mitch McConnell (September 2, 2021), Washington Examiner, Biden promised to address over-incarceration. Florida experienced a50 percent spikein crimeafterenacting mandatory minimums. Any of these reforms would be a step toward establishing a new paradigm that abjures mandatory minimums and respects human dignity. The bill was introduced on July 31, 2013, by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and referred to the Judiciary Committee on October 20, 2013. 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. 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. We recommend the following MLA-formatted citation when using the information you see here in academic work: GovTrack.us. Prisons in Northern Europe are actually supportive, and they see lower rates of violence and recidivism. |date=March 25, 2021 establishes new, shorter mandatory minimum prison terms for a courier. "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. 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. In short, federal incarceration has become one of our nations biggest expenditures, dwarfing the amount spent on law enforcement. And there is reason to think it might succeed: it has support from the full range of the political spectrum, from Tea Party favorite Sen. Rand Paul to Democratic stalwart Sen. Carl Levin. And we will start all over again, but with a much unfriendlier House of Representatives. Because you are a member of panel, your positions on legislation and notes below will be shared with the panel administrators. Last week, Unfortunately, soft-on-crime policies have been, at times, a bipartisan problem. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that low-level crack cocaine offenders cannot benefit from a 2018 federal law. He has promised clemency reform. We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues. Thank you for joining the GovTrack Advisory Community! All 50 statesand DC also have mandatory minimum sentencing laws. 1013 117th Congress: Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021. www.GovTrack.us. . It also added language making the reforms applicable to past cases. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Dick Durbin (D- Ill.) and cosponsored by 11of their colleagues. The Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. Sen. Angus King co-sponsors the 'Smarter Sentencing Act' It faces another battle to pass through the rest of Congress, and Utahs delegation should be there to vote in support. Sen. Angus King co-sponsors the 'Smarter Sentencing Act' NEWS CENTER Maine 38.9K subscribers Subscribe 213 views 1 year ago The 'Smarter Sentencing Act' would allow federal judges to. The Smarter Sentencing Act proposes similar adjustments: (b)(1)(A): The 15-year mandatory minimumfor a prior drug offense would drop to 10 years, and the 10-year mandatory minimumfloor would drop to 5 years. The important but piecemeal work of criminal justice reform continued last week with two significant bills being introduced in the Senate. Once, only Sen Tom Cotton (R-Ark) (who calls First Step Trumps biggest mistake) demanded longer sentences. Home Blog News and Politics United States Senators Bring Forth Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021, On March 25, 2021, Senators Durbin and several others introduced the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021. WASHINGTON U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced bipartisan legislation that wouldmodernize federal drug sentencing polices by lowering certain mandatory drug sentences. (9 Democrats, 2 Independents, 2 Republicans). While the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the crack-cocaine disparity bill last year, it has yet to schedule a markup. 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. S. 1013: Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021 Overview Summary Cosponsors Details Text Study Guide The text of the bill below is as of Mar 25, 2021 (Introduced). The Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015 was a continued effort from the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013/2014. Still, it appeared up until a week ago that some crack cocaine relief would be jammed into the giant end-of-year spending bill. 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 they decide that a mandatory minimum should be charged, they should charge the pertinent statutory quantities that apply to powder cocaine offenses. And at sentencing, prosecutors should advocate for a sentence consistent with the guidelines for powder cocaine rather than crack cocaine.. S1013 | US Congress 2021-2022 | A bill to focus limited - TrackBill Apr 25, 2023. See Terms of Service, Then, Sen Charles Grassley (R-IA), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee and introduced his, Sen. Booker then sought unanimous consent to release the stand-alone version of the, 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, FAMM vice president Molly Gill wants to see the, The fact that a large number of House Republicans joined Democrats in passing the, Congress was recessed all last week and for part of this one, so no legislative progress was made on the, But both senior senators acknowledge its not a glide path forward,, Meanwhile, Durbin said hes concerned about a, Senate aides on both sides of the aisle warn that, Since Bidens inauguration, criminal justice reform has taken a back seat to his more prominent initiatives, last Marchs, A couple of bills before Congress would reduce but not eliminate mandatory minimums: the, In the House, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace (South Carolina) introduced the. In 2018, Republicans passed the pro-criminal, So what is real? Meanwhile, the less culpable little fish are yoked with high mandatory minimums. It is titled " S.1013 - A bill to focus limited Federal resources on the most serious offenders.". Second, the Smarter Sentencing Act would make the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA) retroactive. 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. 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. And his Dept, of Justice finally reinterpreted the CARES Act to let people on home confinement stay there. It would not affect mandatory minimums in21 USC 841(b). In a political environment where the parties compete for who can be more pro-criminal, the Democrats will always win. Hackers/journalists/researchers: See these open data sources. Directs the commission to review and amend its guidelines and policy statements applicable to persons convicted of such an offense under the CSA and CSIEA to ensure consistency with this Act and to consider specified factors, including: Requires the Attorney General to report on how the reduced expenditures on federal corrections and cost savings resulting from this Act will be used to help reduce overcrowding, increase investment in law enforcement and crime prevention, and reduce recidivism.
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