From the Sentencing Project (http://www.sentencingproject.org):
Because of your support and outreach to lawmakers, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday (2/15) advanced legislation to reduce some federal mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses and to reform federal prisons on a bipartisan vote of 16 to 5. Thank you!
The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (S. 1917) would give judges greater flexibility in sentencing below a mandatory minimum in low-level cases and curbing outsized sentences – including life without parole for a third drug crime. Several of the bill’s provisions would allow some current prisoners to petition for retroactive relief, including 3,100 people incarcerated under the old 100 to 1 crack cocaine disparity.
The President’s budget for FY 2019, released this week, projects a five percent increase in the federal prison population over current levels. Staffing shortages at federal prisons nationwide have already forced medical staff, administrators and kitchen workers to take on corrections duties, raising safety concerns. Without action by Congress, the prison problems are likely to worsen given the administration’s plan to cut 6,000 positions in federal prisons, including 1,800 openings for correctional officers.
The next step is for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to schedule a vote on the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act by the full Senate, but that will not happen unless senators continue to hear from their constituents expressing their support.
The U.S. Senate’s Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) are committed to moving the bipartisan Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act again this year. As we did last year, The Sentencing Project is supporting their efforts to lower mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses and to apply sentencing changes to people currently in federal prison. We need your help to gather enough support from your senators to ensure a successful reintroduction. Senator Casey has already signed on–please call and email Senator Toomey to become a cosponsor of the legislation at http://www.sentencingproject.org/actions/4783/. Or contact him directly: Find his contact information: Senator Pat Toomey: http://toomey.senate.gov
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