Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act explained

The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (also called the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 or SRCA) is a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill introduced into the United States Senate on October 1, 2015, by Chuck Grassley, a Republican senator from Iowa and the chairman of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary.[1]

Provisions

The bill would do the following:

The bill would only apply to federal prisoners without changing anything in states' laws or judicial systems.[2]

Sponsors

In addition to Grassley, other sponsors of the bill when it was first introduced included:

The bill added the following additional sponsors when it was re-introduced in October 2017:[6]

Revisions

To gain more support for the measure, bill sponsors announced revisions on April 28, 2016.[7] Most notably, the proposed amendments would remove provisions related to armed career criminals, add new sentence enhancements for crimes involving fentanyl, and remove the retroactivity of the additional proposed safety valves.

The provision making the Fair Sentencing Act retroactive would remain intact.[8]

Timeline

Opposition

Tom Cotton, a Republican senator from Arkansas, has led a group of other Republican congresspeople who are opposed to the bill. Cotton has argued that rates of murder and other violent crime have decreased so much since the 1990s because of "higher mandatory minimums put in place in the 1980s coupled with vigilant policing strategies pioneered by Rudy Giuliani and other American mayors and law enforcement officials."[11] He has also argued that the bill, if passed, would lead to the release of thousands of violent felons.

Support

On the day that the bill was introduced, Molly Gill, of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, said that "it doesn’t go as far as we would like."[12] On October 3, 2015, Marc Mauer, the executive director of the Sentencing Project, told NPR that the bill "is the most substantial criminal justice reform legislation introduced since the inception of the 'tough on crime' movement that brought crimes rate drastically down over the last decades."[2]

On October 17, 2017, National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell and Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin penned a letter in support of the legislation, writing that the bill would "increase rehabilitation. If enacted, it would be a positive next step in our collective efforts to move our nation forward."[13]

Criticism

Writing in Mother Jones the day after the bill was introduced, Shane Bauer described the bill as "remarkably unambitious" in addressing mass incarceration and argued that it "doesn't live up to its own hype."[14] The bill has been criticized by Nicholas Wooldridge, a defense attorney from Las Vegas, for "creat[ing] the appearance of reform without doing much of anything to effect actual reform."[15]

In March 2016, Marc Morial, the president of the National Urban League, asked Congress to delay action on both the House and Senate versions of the bill until the information could be obtained on its possible effects on blacks and Hispanics.[16]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kelly Ayotte's Criminal-Justice Reform Dilemma . The Atlantic . 22 January 2016 . 30 January 2016 . Cottle, Michelle.
  2. Web site: Here's One Thing Washington Agreed On This Week: Sentencing Reform . NPR . 3 October 2015 . 30 January 2016 . Johnson, Carrie.
  3. Web site: The criminal justice bill bringing President Obama and the Koch brothers together, explained . Vox . 1 October 2015 . 30 January 2016 . Lind, Dara.
  4. Web site: What Criminal Justice Reform Is Cory Booker Working On? The SCOTUS Frontrunner Is Prioritizing "Very Important Negotiations" . Bustle . 15 February 2016 . 10 March 2016 . Holter, Lauren.
  5. News: Senators unveil long-awaited compromise on criminal justice reform . Washington Post . 1 October 2015 . 30 January 2016 . Lowery, Wesley.
  6. Web site: Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017 (S. 1917). GovTrack.us. en. 2017-10-23.
  7. Web site: Sentencing Reform & Corrections Act Expands Bipartisan Support | U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey.
  8. Web site: Draft Managers Amendment to S.2123.
  9. Web site: Sentencing reform bill advances in Senate . The Hill . 22 October 2015 . 30 January 2016 . Wheeler, Lydia.
  10. Web site: Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017 (S. 1917). GovTrack.us. en. 2017-10-23.
  11. Web site: The GOP Argument Against Criminal Justice Reform Just Got Dismantled . Huffington Post . 17 February 2016 . 22 February 2016 . Ferner, Matt.
  12. Web site: Sentencing reform bill seeks criminal justice fixes – but critics are not satisfied . The Guardian . 1 October 2015 . 30 January 2016 . Woolf, Nicky.
  13. News: Goodell, Doug Baldwin issue letter in support of Senate bill. NFL.com. 2017-10-18. en.
  14. Web site: The New Bipartisan Criminal-Justice Reform Bill Doesn't Live Up to Its Own Hype . Mother Jones . 2 October 2015 . 7 February 2016 . Bauer, Shane.
  15. Web site: The Failure of the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act 2015 . JURIST . 6 February 2016 . 21 February 2016 . Wooldridge, Nicholas.
  16. Web site: National Urban League Urges Congress to Delay Action on Justice Bills . NBC News . 28 March 2016 . 4 April 2016 . Burke, Lauren Victoria.

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