Johnson and Presidential Campaign Setting the Stage for
Sentence Relief
By Derek Gilna
Three
things came to my attention this week.
First, the Johnson case is a keeper;
courts are using it with little of the hesitancy and generally
associated with the judicial system, for an often overlooked reason. Secondly, it looks like the Presidential
campaigns are getting involved in the issue of sentence relief. Finally, Congress is starting to show signs
of moving ahead on the same issue.
As to Johnson, one must remember that judges,
including the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, rarely want to be
ground-breakers in their decisions. They are very thin-skinned when it comes to
criticism. The Supreme Court gave big hints in recent prisoner-related
decisions, such as Alleyne, on how it wanted the circuits to rule on certain
issues, but the lower courts didn’t follow through. In the Fair Sentencing Act,
lower courts once again had a golden opportunity to release larger numbers of people,
but didn’t grant relief nearly as often as it was deserved. However, the
Johnson case now gives them a non-controversial way to cut sentences without
Congress or law enforcement bodies criticizing them, and there has been zero
criticism of these sentence cuts.
Secondly, Bernie Sanders (my
favorite socialist), has sharply criticized the punitive American justice
system, and has said when Congress returns from recess, “I will be introducing
legislation, which takes corporations out of profiteering from running
jail.” He added: “We want to deal with
(mandatory) minimum sentencing,” and want to legalize marijuana, which will
drive the DOJ crazy. Although no one
(yet) thinks Sanders will win nomination, he is driving the discussion on
justice and gaining support as a result, which leads to my last point.
Congress is full of people who make
their living doing nothing but talking, and getting paid well for it (kind of
like other people we know, right?).
When Sanders, Rand Paul, Clinton, and the US Sentencing Commission talk
about justice reform, and even Senator ((Mandatory-Minimum) Grassley is
planning to hold hearings this Fall on the new legislation, you’ve got to think
something good will happen, and happen soon.
In the meantime, Federal
Legal Center
Federal Legal Center, Inc., an Illinois
(847) 878-0160
