Smarter Sentencing Act Continues to Gain Support
By Derek Gilna
In a week where no new Supreme
Court decisions impacted prisoners, and no new federal clemency petitions were
granted, I turn my attention to Congressional action on the Smarter Sentencing
Act of 2015. The Act would reduce the mandatory minimum sentencing for drug
offenses, and reduce sentences of “couriers,” defined as those whose “offense
was limited to transporting or story drugs or money.”
I previously reported on the recent Bipartisan
Summit on Criminal Justice Reform, where a group of lawmakers, activists, and
political operatives from many different ideological backgrounds discussed this
bill and others like it. Conferences
like this make it easier for Congressmen and Senators to support prisoner
relief legislation.
The conference also focused on the
Redeem Act, a bill that proposes a number of reforms on solitary confinement
and the sealing of some criminal records, and other legislation that would
allow prisoners to access Pell Grants to further their college education while
in prison. These legislative proposals
and the positive energy from sentence-relief conferences and news articles have
helped to produce a positive energy that will only help the cause of sentence
reform.
It appears, although some observers
are skeptical, that Democrat Hillary Clinton will run her Presidential campaign
from the left, and she has already made noises about pushing sentencing
reform. Rand Paul, on the Republican
side, has also been a consistent supporter of reform, and recently gained
widespread positive publicity for his defeat of some of the National Security
Agencies domestic surveillance capabilities (also widely used for
warrantless-and illegal- surveillance of many now in federal custody.)
Meanwhile, the Smarter Sentencing
Act continues to steadily pick up co-sponsors, a sure sign that it is gaining
momentum in the votes department. As of June 3, the House version had 44
cosponsors from both parties (out of 435 Representatives), while the Senate
version had 12 (out of 100 total Senators). Obviously the closer it gets to a
majority of each house acting as co-sponsors, the more likely it is to pass and
become law. It has not yet been voted out of Committee in the Senate, but that
may be attributable more to the fracas regarding the confirmation hearings of
the new Attorney General than anything else.
Derek Gilna, 113 McHenry Rd., #173 ,
Buffalo Grove , IL 60089
