1 0 obj To dismantle Americas dehumanizing and racially skewedhuman cagingsystem, we must eliminate mandatory minimums. In the words of the members of the bipartisan U.S. A Bi-partisan Summit on Criminal Justice Reform, met in March 2015 to discuss reforming America's criminal justice system and received national news coverage. The MOREAct would have allowed cannabis companies to open bank accounts and would have retroactively permitted changes in pot-based sentences. Copyright 2016-Present The Law Office of Jeremy Gordon. 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. Legal Information Services Associates LLC, Showing Some Compassion: 18 USC 3582(c)(1)(A)(i), Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor noted last week, Biden Commutes Sentences of 31 People Who Are Already At Home Update for May 1, 2023, Code Blue At BOP, GAO Says Update for April 28, 2023, Phoning It In On Review of Magistrates Decision Not Good Enough Update for April 27, 2023, Nothing Really IS Sacred Update for April 25, 2023, Three First Step Reform Retread Bills Introduced Update for April 24, 2023, FBI Legal Handbook for Special Agents 2003, FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide 2008, FBI Manual of Investigative Operations & Guidelines 1998, FBI Manual of Administrative Operations & Procedures 1998, Federal Public Defender lawyers resources. [3] The House and Senate Committees on the Judiciary was the next step in the bill being passed into law. "Reducing the federal prison population has become urgent, with that population almost three times where it was in 1991.". 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 It would be an excellent starting point to developing a less destructive drug-sentencing scheme. As Reason magazine said last week, it wasnt just the close of just any year. Congress must repeal federal mandatory minimums, make the change retroactive for those already serving mandatory minimum sentences, and incentivize states to follow suit. 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. 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 need to reduce and prevent racial disparities in sentencing. GovTrack.us is not a government website. . 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. from 20 years to 10 years for a high-level offense after one prior felony drug offense. 4 0 obj You recall that in Terry v. United States last June, the Supreme Court held that Section 404 did not qualify pre-2010 crack sentences for sentence reduction. The Brennan Center crafts innovative policies and fights for them in Congress and the courts. While Ohio State law professor Doug Berman is skeptical of their chances, he notes that prior iterations of [the. It would extend retroactivity to anyone sentenced for drug or stacked 924(c) offenses sentenced prior to the 2018 First Step Act and let judges waive criminal history limitations that keep defendants from getting the 18 USC 3553 safety value. Any bill introduced in the 117th Congress which began in January 2021 will stick around until the 117th expires a year from today. The Brennan Center works to build an America that is democratic, just, and free. 2 0 obj Several important reforms from the Smarter Sentencing Act were included in the landmark First Step Act, which was enacted into law in 2018. That should make sentencing changes that much harder, Politico said. Senate aides on both sides of the aisle warn that EQUAL could still face a challenging path to final passage, including a potentially arduous debate over amendments. Additionally, last years SSA made existing mandatory minimums inapplicable to a defendant who functions a courier; andestablishes new, shorter mandatory minimum prison terms for a courier. Prosecutors use of mandatory minimums inover halfof all federal cases disproportionately impacts poor people of color and has driven theexponential growthin the federal prison population in recent decades. 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. 4.Sentencing modifications for certain drug offenses. First Step adjusted mandatory life in 841(b)(1)(A) to 25 years, and mandatory 20 years in the same subsection to 15 years. Some of the Smarter Sentencing Act provisions echo those of the Sentence Reform and Corrections Act of 2017, introduced two days earlier. Youre more than a vote, so support GovTrack today with a tip of any amount: Or keep using GovTrack for free! The FSA is the law that reduces the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. The Task Force expired in November 2013, but advocates supported a re-authorization for another six-month term and asked the chairman to hold a hearing on sentencing laws. % Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss. It would not affect mandatory minimums in21 USC 841(b). Our public interest mission means we will never put our service behind a paywall. See Terms of Service, 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. The document discussed the sentencing guidelines causing life sentences to be issued for various types of offenses. Half measures wont be effective; empirical work suggests that theObama administrations efforts to temper mandatory minimumsin drug cases did little to reduce sentences or racial disparities. On March 25, 2021, Senators Durbin and several others introduced the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021. (ii)by striking "not be less than 10 years" and inserting "not be less than 5 years"". 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. Smarter Sentencing Act Passes Major Hurdle in Congress We are also still on Instagram at @govtrack.us posting 60-second video summaries of legislation in Congress. S. 1013 (117 th ): Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021 - GovTrack.us The, Additionally, the bill corrects a weird anomaly in the, As for the two new bills, introduction hardly means approval. (A)in the flush text following clause (viii), (i)by striking "10 years or more" and inserting "5 years or more"; Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books. In contrast, studies show that shorter sentences in drug casesneither diminish public safetynorincrease drug abuse. 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. Second, the Smarter Sentencing Act would make the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA) retroactive. Yes, indeedy, the 2017 version of the bill is identical to old S.502, except for a boatload more sponsors (21 from both sides of the aisle). 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.. If anything, the EQUAL Acts failure was a bigger disappointment. All rights reserved. Please join our advisory group to let us know what more we can do. The act also proposes to trade the language of "Felony Drug Offense" in 841 with "serious drug felony" or "serious violent felony," the new language from the FIRST STEP Act of 2018. The bills titles are written by its sponsor. This is the one from the 116 th Congress. [7], On March 11, 2014 updates were done. It might have even set a record. And there is no 65% Bill. (i)by striking "5 years" and inserting "2 years"; and FAMM supports this bill. Moreover, the current chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee is Senator Durbin and the current President campaigned on a platform that included an express promise to work for the passage of legislation to repeal mandatory minimums at the federal level. If youve visited a bill page on GovTrack.us recently, you may have noticed a new study guide tab located just below the bill title. EQUAL, like the marijuana-friendly SAFE Banking Act was proposed as an addition to the catch-all spending package, an effort that Cotton frustrated. 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 Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015 was a continued effort from the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013/2014. All of that would be great, but as Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor noted last week currently, six of the seven voting members seats are vacant. Still, it appeared up until a week ago that some crack cocaine relief would be jammed into the giant end-of-year spending bill. 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 bipartisan Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021 would enact a narrower reform, reducing mandatory minimums for certain non-violent drug offenses and making other reforms retroactive. 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). 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 Act was passed by a vote of 13 to 5. Rather, anyprison time at allincreasesthe risk of future crimebecauseincarceration is inherently criminogenic; mandatory minimums only exacerbate this situation. Text for S.1013 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Smarter Sentencing Act of 2021 Last week, mainstream Newsweek magazine ran an opinion piece claiming that America, in the year 2022, does not suffer from an over-incarceration problem. (1)in section 102 (21 U.S.C. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. This bill was introduced in the 117th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2021 to Jan 3, 2023. Based on my research and reading of the law the Smarter Sentencing Act replaces the mandatory minimum under 841(b)(1)(A) (which is 1 kilo of heroin, 5 kilograms of cocaine, 280 grams of cocaine base, 10 grams of LSD, 1000 Kilograms of Marijuana, 50 grams of meth and 500 grams of a substance containing meth) from 10 years to 5 years. It goes without saying that this would be a great bill if it manages to pass Congress and get to President Obama. Second, a lot of criticism of the President over the CARES 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. Help us develop the tools to bring real-time legislative data into the classroom.