Tag Archives: prison reform

Rudolph Never Had It This Bad… – Update for December 27, 2021

We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

A LUMP OF COAL FOR CENTRAL OFFICE

The other reindeer used to laugh and call Rudolph names… but not in publications circulating on Capitol Hill.

rudolph211227First, Forbes ran a piece a week ago on BOP employee misconduct. Forbes noted that employees are rarely filed, with the BOP “preferring to offer them retirement or reassignment. The article pointed out that then-Attorney General William Barr told a Fraternal Order of Police conference after Jeffrey Epstein’s death that “we are now learning of serious irregularities” at MCC New York, where Epstein was found dead …” and “[we] will get to the bottom of what happened and that there will be accountability.”  

In the end, Forbes said, “two corrections officers were indicted (later entered into a deferred prosecution agreement) while nobody in executive management was charged.” Warden Lamine N’Diaye, who was in charge of notorious MCC New York at the time, was never accused of wrongdoing. He was promoted to be warden at FCI Fort Dix, a considerably larger institution. Edsel Ford, Robert S. McNamara. Lamine N’Diaye… upward failures all.

Retirement is another way the BOP rids itself of an embarrassing employee. There is less press, and the agency can force responsibility on the taxpayers to pay a lifetime pension in exchange for hiding an indiscretion from the public. Plus, retirement derails most investigations by the DOJ Inspector General, because an agency generally cannot take disciplinary action against a retired employee.

badapple211227Once in a while, however, the employee goes to the mat before the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service, and the public gets a view of bad behavior inside the agency. Forbes reported on a Dec 9 FMCS order upholding the firing of an FCI Miami employee who paid inmates with food for performing his job, including using a staff computer to write emails, place online orders for supplies, search the BOP’s workers’ compensation data, take telephone calls for [the staff member], prepare Equal Employment Opportunity complaints and write correspondence to FCI Miami’s warden regarding a negative performance review” the staff member had gotten.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported details from a recently unsealed indictment against a BOP employee accused of conspiring with two inmates to smuggle drugs into USP Atlanta.

None of this is helpful to BOP Director Michael Carvajal, whose firing was demanded a month ago by Sen Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) after news broke about BOP employees committing serious crimes. Last week, a former BOP Director threw gasoline on the dumpster fire in a piece published in The Hill. Perhaps, to pile on the metaphors, I should say the article  threw Carvajal a lifeline… with an anvil tied to the other end.

fault200814Former BOP Director Hugh Hurwitz said it’s not necessarily the director’s fault (but he did not suggest that Carvajal not be fired). Federal prisons “are in crisis, riddled with deep and systemic ills that won’t be cured by simply replacing the BOP chief,” Hurwitz wrote. “In fact, we’ve already tried that. Carvajal, appointed last year, became the sixth director or acting director in just five years.”

Hurwitz called for sentencing reform, including “mandating a greater reliance on drug courts, community service and other alternatives to prison, such as halfway houses. It also means eliminating mandatory minimum penalties for drug crimes…”

As for the BOP itself, Hurwitz urged the Attorney General to adopt a “recommendation from the Council on Criminal Justice’s Task Force on Federal Priorities, which called for creation of an independent oversight board for the BOP. This would bring outside expertise to bear on the agency’s multiple challenges while retaining the career leadership that historically has served the agency well.”

Hurwitz called for rebuilding the federal criminal justice system “so that it is smaller, less punitive, more humane and safer for all. With political will, independent oversight and an unwavering commitment, we can make holistic change to a system long in need of it.”

The drumbeats continue and the bad press rolls on. Can the Director hold on?

Forbes, FCI Miami Federal Prison Employee Fired For Using Inmates To Help Perform His Job (December 21, 2021)

Federal Times, A BOP supervisor abused their position then quit. What happens next? (January 6, 2020)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Prison officer indicted in smuggling scheme never met co-defendants, lawyer says (December 22, 2021)

The Hill, To fix our prison system, we need far more than a change in leadership (December 22, 2021)

– Thomas L. Root

Truth is Stranger than Fiction: Reality TV Star’s White House Visit May Jump-Start Sentence Reform – Update for June 4, 2018

We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues. 

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WILL THE KARDASHIANS SAVE SENTENCE REFORM?

kardash180604Talk about headlines we never imagined ourselves writing… The twists and turns of federal sentence and prison reform legislation get weirder and weirder. Last week, as Senate Republicans fought one another over whether FIRST STEP Act (H.R. 5682) did enough to benefit prisoners, President Trump had a sit-down in his office with Kim Kardashian over a commutation for Alice Martin, a grandmother doing life at FCI Aliceville, and then pardoned a conservative New York filmmaker who did 8 months in a halfway house over a two-bit campaign finance crime.

So why does this matter to federal prisoners?

To start, The Hill reported last week that the Senate is “under growing pressure” to take up the FIRST STEP Act, which is a priority Trump son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner. But Senate negotiators say they are not close to a deal that would allow the bill to move quickly.

grassley180604Instead, the fight is pitting two influential senators, John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), against each other as they back competing bills. “We’ve got work to do here on building consensus… but right now we don’t have it,” Cornyn said last week. The divisions could scuttle any chance that the Trump-backed FIRST STEP becomes law this year.

Both Cornyn and Grassley are signaling they plan to press forward with trying to build support for their own separate bills once the Senate returns to Washington, D.C., this week. “We’re going to take up my bill,” Grassley said, referring to the Sentence Reform and Corrections Act (S.1917). “Or I should say, my bipartisan bill that’s got 28 co-sponsors — equal number Republicans and Democrats… What the House does through [FIRST STEP] is about the equivalent of a spit in the ocean compared to what the problem is of too much imprisonment.”

SRCA would link prison reform to reductions in mandatory minimums for certain drug offenses, correction of stacked 924(c) convictions, and retroactivity of the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act. Both Grassley and Durbin say they’ve made a deal not to separate the prison and sentencing reform components despite pressure from the White House.

sessions180215The Hill reports that SRCA is unlikely to be taken up in the Senate given opposition from Trump officials, chiefly Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III. Grassley admitted last week he has not yet convinced Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) to bring SRCA to the floor. “You’ve got to remember that McConnell doesn’t like the bill,” Grassley said, “and all I can say is that you ought to let a Republican president who needs a big, bipartisan victory have a bipartisan victory.”

Last week, McConnell told senators, “Look, guys, if you all can get your act together and come up with something that you’re comfortable with, that the president will sign, I’d be willing to take a look at it.”

Enter Kim Kardashian West, reality TV star and wife of Kanye West. Kim, who made early release for federal prisoner Alice Martin. Kardashian visited the White House on Wednesday to urge President Trump to commute the sentence of a 63-year-old grandmother serving life for a first-time drug offense. In pleading her case for a commutation for the inmate, Kardashian seized upon draconian federal sentencing practices that can put low- or midlevel nonviolent offenders away for decades, even life.

kardashian180604Interestingly, Trump – who tends to agree with the last person who spoke to him – tweeted that he and Kardashian had a good visit, and talked about “prison reform and sentencing.” This left some observers hopeful that the President was listening to people other than Sessions, and was about to signal his support for adding some sentencing reform measures to FIRST STEP. At the same time, Trump’s interest in harsh sentencing may help McConnell find some backbone to put FIRST STEP and SRCA to a vote.

Meanwhile, debate continued about the FIRST STEP Act. The liberal opponents of FIRST STEP argue that passing the bill, which lacks any reform of mandatory minimum sentence, would leave Congress and the administration believing they had solved mass incarceration, and thus not willing to address the issues at the heart of the prison problem anytime soon. But the Washington Post suggested this fear is overblown:

If Democrats take control of the House in November, they will be able to revisit the issue anytime they want — but they will have real clout to go along with their passion,” the Post said. “Nothing in the current bill precludes bolder, more comprehensive action when the votes, and the president’s pen, are lined up and ready.

The Hill, Senate grapples with prison reform bill (May 30, 2018)

Washington Post, In prison reform, a little of something is better than a lot of nothing (May 28, 2018)

The Hill, Don’t kick the can down the road on prison reform — now is the time for change (June 1, 2018)

– Thomas L. Root

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New Delay on Prison Reform Committee Vote May Jeopardize Passage – Update for April 30, 2018

We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues. 

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HOUSE MARKUP OF PRISON REFORM BILL DELAYED AGAIN

roadblock180430Disagreements over provisions in the Prison Reform and Redemption Act, H.R. 3356, backed by the White House, forced House Judiciary Chairman Robert Goodlatte (R-Virginia) to postpone markup of the bill previously scheduled for last Wednesday, and called into question the future of any type of criminal justice reform.

“We will consider the prison reform bill at the next mark-up of the Committee, which will occur the week of May 7th,” Goodlatte said. “I look forward to considering it then.”

The PRRA, co-sponsored by Reps. Doug Collins (R-Georgia.) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), rewards inmates’ completion of programs like drug treatment, adult education classes and vocational training with additional halfway house and home confinement. Any sentencing reform – such as change in mandatory minimums and retroactivity of the Fair Sentencing Act – was left out because of White House and Justice Department pressure.

The Hill reported that House Judiciary Democrats are battling with some Committee Republicans over PRRA provisions that restrict the kinds of programs offered and the kinds of convictions that will be excluded from benefits. Multiple House sources, however, blamed the delay not on House negotiations but instead on a behind-the-scenes opposition campaign from two Senate heavyweights, one from each party.

SRCARIP180430Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) reportedly told House Judiciary panel members to oppose the PRRA unless it adds the sentencing overhaul contained in the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, S.1917, which they co-sponsor and which was reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee two months ago.

The Trump administration wants to see a prison-only bill, not the broader SRCA, but that’s not stopping Grassley and Durbin from what one Republican complained was meddling in the House debate. “Frankly, I respect the two senators, but they have enough problems in the Senate,” said Rep. Doug Collins (R-Georgia), one of the PRRA’s authors. “I wish they would actually focus on passing bills over there.”

The PRRA also has been criticized by civil and human rights groups, who have long focused their fight for criminal justice reform on measures that reduce mandatory minimum prison sentences. More than 60 police chiefs and prosecutors wrote to Congress and the White House last week, urging that the PRRA be amended to include mandatory minimums reform. The group, called Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration is concerned that the PRRA doesn’t address sentencing.

“Improving prison conditions and reentry services, on their own, will not adequately solve our high rates of incarceration and recidivism,” the letter says. “Legislation like the Prison Reform and Redemption Act (H.R.3356) and the CORRECTIONS Act (S. 1994) are useful efforts to improve the lives of those in prison. But such efforts should be coupled with efforts to reduce unnecessary incarceration.”

perfect170428Last Friday, leaders of faith-based groups met at the White House to voice their support for the PRRA. The Prison Fellowship, one of the participants, sees demands for sentencing reform as a needless distraction: “The delay in voting on the Prison Reform and Redemption Act in the House of Representatives is a disappointment to Prison Fellowship and the hundreds of thousands of prisoners and families we serve in our programs,” Craig DeRoche, Senior Vice President, Advocacy and Public Policy, said. “There is no disagreement about what is in the bill, the fight is over what has not been put in this legislation—and the people who pay the price for these delays are the men and women that are incarcerated today. Delaying, or even killing these important reforms disregards the hope, dignity, value and potential of the people incarcerated today and will only serve the practical outcome of making America less safe by continuing the current recidivism rate.”

Despite the delay, Rep. Jeffries said he’s confident of a bipartisan agreement soon, and that the bill will pass in May.

The Hill, House Judiciary delays markup of prison reform bill (Apr. 25, 2018)

Politico, Kushner-backed prison reform bill stumbles in House (Apr. 25, 2018)

– Thomas L. Root

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Prison Reform Gets a Hearing – Update for April 16, 2018

We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues. 

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HOUSE PRISON REFORM BILL GOES TO HEARING THIS WEEK

redemption180411The House Judiciary Committee will mark up H.R. 3566, the Prison Reform and Redemption Act, this week, a Republican proposal that aims to reduce recidivism. Rep. Doug Collins (R-Georgia), sponsor of the PRRA, said the bill, which has 10 Democrat and seven Republican co-sponsors, would allow prisoners to serve the final days of their sentences in a halfway house or home confinement if they complete evidence-based programs that have been shown to reduce recidivism rates.

Prison programming could include everything from job and vocational skills training to education and drug treatment.

The White House announced in February it was throwing its support behind prison reform measures such as the PRRA instead of measures like the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, sponsored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). The White House says it sees no path forward for sentencing reform. “And so what we see now is an environment where the prison reform does have enough support to get done,” an official said. “And we think that by maybe doing this in smaller bits and pushing the prison reform now, we think this has a better chance of getting done.” 

blackprisoner171116Not everyone agrees. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights an umbrella group of 63 organizations, wrote to the House Judiciary Committee last week to complain about the PRRA and “efforts to pass prison reform (or ‘back-end’ reform) legislation without including sentencing reform (or ‘front-end’ reform).” The Conference said that any “legislation that addresses only back end reforms is doomed to fail in achieving these goals. Without changes to sentencing laws that eliminate mandatory minimums, restore judicial discretion, reduce the national prison population, and mitigate disparate impacts on communities of color, H.R. 3356 alone will have little impact.”

The PRRA lets inmates earn credits for completing designated BOP programs that will let them go to halfway house or home confinement early, with the more credits earned, the earlier the prisoner can get released to residential reentry. But the Conference letter noted that “currently there are not enough of these programs available in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to serve those currently in prisons. Furthermore, BOP more recently has reduced the number of residential reentry centers it contracts with to provide halfway house programming.”

mcconnell180219And the leadership of two organizations on the opposite end of the political spectrum, conservative FreedomWorks and liberal Center for American Progress, wrote in The Hill last week that “[a] recent markup of the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act yielded the same favorable vote as the last committee vote on this legislation, and even those who voted against the legislation voiced support for some level of sentencing reform. Sen. Lee maintains that SRCA would receive 70 votes on the Senate floor, if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) would simply allow the bill to come to a vote.”

Trump son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner convinced President Trump to support prison reforms like those some states have implemented more than a decade ago, which since saved billions and has resulted both in the closure of prisons and a drastic reduction the crime rate. Jared presented those ideas to Trump at a White House meeting in January. The following month, the White House asked lawmakers to draw up legislation, highlighting many of the same policies.

Kushner has since worked with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a long-time criminal justice reform advocate, who helped craft the plan the House will begin debating this week.

Meanwhile, speculation that Trump may fire Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III – the man who torpedoed the SRCA and has backed off Obama-era easing of DOJ charging policies – has cooled. The Weekly Standard reported his week that such a firing is highly unlikely. Instead, Sessions has a stronger hold on his job than ever.

With Sessions gone, it would be difficult for Grassley to avoid spending the rest of the year on anything but hearings for a new AG. With the risk growing daily that the Democrats may capture the Senate in the midterm elections in November, the chance to confirm more conservative judges would have been frittered away.

sessions180215Still, The Standard reports that anti-Sessions sentiment lives on in the Trump family. Jared Kushner is a supporter of criminal justice reform, which Sessions opposes. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who openly lobbied to replace Sessions and angered the President in the process, was Kushner’s hope for attorney general and possible backer of SRCA. Pruitt is hanging on to his EPA job by a thread, and has probably permanently spindled any hope of becoming Attorney General.

The Hill, Prison reform bill set for House markup next week (Apr. 11, 2018)

McClatchy Washington Bureau, Washington looks to Texas on federal prison reforms (Apr. 13, 2018)

The Leadership, Letter of Concern regarding H.R. 3356, the Prison Reform and Redemption Act (Apr. 12, 2018)

The Weekly Standard, Jeff Sessions and His Enemies (Apr. 13, 2018)

– Thomas L. Root

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Maybe Prison Reform Won’t Be Such a Bad Thing – Update for March 27, 2018

We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

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GREATEST GOOD FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER?

Federal inmates understandably focus most on changes in the law that would retroactively reduce their sentences. For that reason, a lot of people are not happy that President Donald Trump has turned the debate from sentencing reform to prison reform, which is changing reentry and rehabilitation programs.

A U.S. Sentencing Commission letter to the Congressional Budget Office – which is responsible for assessing the impact of proposed bills – was posted last week on the USSC website. The letter addresses the impact of S. 1917, the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017, on current sentences and the size of the BOP inmate population.

numbers180327Surprisingly, the USSC analysis finds the prison reform provisions of SRCA could impact ten times as many federal prisoners as would the sentencing reform provisions. The analysis finds that about 7,000 inmates could benefit from the retroactive sentencing provisions of Title I of the SRCA, but over 75,000 federal prisoners could be eligible for the corrections credits – increased earned good time for completion of education programs – offered by Title II of the bill.

In his Sentencing Law and Policy blog last week, Ohio State University law professor Doug Berman said, “I sincerely hope… criminal justice reform advocates will appreciate that a huge number of… federal prisoners could and would benefit from enacting just the corrections piece of the SRCA. Given widespread support for reform provisions that could have widespread impact, I hope we see some movement on the corrections front soon.  But, sadly, given an array of problematic personalities and politics, I am not optimistic.”

Letter to Congressional Budget Office from U.S. Sentencing Commission (March 19, 2018)

Sentencing Law and Policy, Interesting new US Sentencing Commission analysis of possible impact of Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017 (Mar. 22, 2018)

– Thomas L. Root

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Sentencing Reform, We Hardly Knew Ye – Update for March 21, 2018

We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

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COALITION TO PASS SENTENCING REFORM IS FALLING APART

The bipartisan sentencing reform movement is breaking apart in the face of President Trump’s prison reform proposals, which focus on prisoners re-entering society instead of reducing mandatory minimums. The division between prison reform and sentencing reform advocates, especially in the Senate, could threaten the momentum behind either proposal.

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President Trump counts the number of high officials he has fired or who have left his Administration… could the Attorney General be next?

Trump and Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III have no interest in anything more than prison reform right now. And Jared Kushner, the White House’s sentencing reform advocate, has reportedly decided prison reform is the only way forward. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) won’t support Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) on the Sentencing Reform & Corrections Act – which Grassley’s Judiciary Committee passed last month 15-5 — despite his prior support. Cornyn is pushing instead for his bill, the CORRECTIONS Act with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) that calls only for prison reforms aimed at aiding re-entry and reducing recidivism. An aide to a Judiciary Committee member told Axios last week that “McConnell isn’t going to put sentencing reform on the floor, particularly now that the administration opposes it. So the options are the Whitehouse-Cornyn bill, or nothing.” 

reform160201On the House side, Rep. Doug Collins (R-Georgia), whose Redemption Act mirrors the Cornyn-Whitehouse bill and has the most momentum in the House, told Axios he supports some kind of broader, more comprehensive criminal justice reforms, but right now, “prison reform can get the votes in Congress… but sentencing reform can’t.” Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia) and Jason Lewis (R-Minnesota, who are cosponsoring a bipartisan House sentencing reform bill, are still optimistic about the chances for sentencing reform. The odds of getting any bill through the House Judiciary Committee, whose chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia) is so notoriously slow at moving legislation that the Committee has become known as the place bills go to die, are considered slim. “This guy just refuses to move legislation,” said a senior Republican lawmaker. “I can’t think of a single thing he’s actually accomplished,” added a top GOP Republican aide.

Progressive groups and senators like Grassley, Dick Durban (D-Illinois), Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) continue to push for sentencing reform.

sessions180322There’s some good news coming out of the Washington rumor mill. After Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was fired and Trump economic advisor Gary Cohn quit last week, several publications reported that the President had Sessions on his short list of people to be fired. Vanity Fair said that according to two Republicans in regular contact with the White House, there have been talks that Trump could replace Sessions with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, former Oklahoma attorney general, who would not be recused from overseeing the Russia probe. Such a replacement could soften Trump Administration opposition to SRCA, inasmuch as Pruitt is not reputed to be as hidebound as Sessions.

Axios, The criminal justice reform coalition is breaking up (Mar. 15, 2018)

Politico, The Place Bills Go to Die (Mar. 15, 2018)

Just Security, How Trump Might Replace Sessions with Pruitt as Attorney General (Mar. 15, 2018)

Vanity Fair, “Trump wants them out of there”: After swinging the axe at Tillerson, Trump mulls what to do with McMaster, Sessions, Jared, and Ivanka (Mar. 14, 2018)

– Thomas L. Root

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Washington Sentencing Reform Soap Opera Grinds On – Update for March 12, 2018

We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

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THRILLS, CHILLS, AS SENTENCING REFORM GETS KICKED AROUND WASHINGTON

It’s kind of like a made-for-TV thriller, with all sorts of disconnected story lines swirling around the central theme of sentencing reform.

soap180312Starting with the good news/bad news on pardons: President Trump issued the third grant of clemency (and second pardon) of his presidency last Friday to former Navy sailor Kristian Saucier, who learned the news while driving a garbage truck, the only job he could find with a felony conviction. Saucier, who was sentenced to a year in prison in 2016 for taking pictures inside a nuclear submarine, was repeatedly cited by Trump during his presidential campaign as being “ruined” for doing “nothing,” while Hillary Clinton mishandled classified information and used a personal email account while serving as secretary of state, only to receive a “pass” from the FBI.

The bad news is that Trump so far has only granted clemency to people whose stories have contributed to his political narrative (Sheriff Joe Arpaio) or who had powerful political and financial friends (Sholom Rabashkin). There is no indication he cares to do anything about inmates not falling into either category.

Hopes that Trump may support sentencing reform were rekindled slightly this past week as the White House launched the Federal Interagency Council on Crime Prevention and Improving Reentry, intended to reduce crime while looking for ways to “provide those who have engaged in criminal activity with greater opportunities to lead productive lives.”

sessions180215Trump’s executive order calls for “mental health, vocational training, job creation, after-school programming, substance abuse, and mentoring,” for inmates. “Incarceration is necessary to improve public safety,” the Administration said, “but its effectiveness can be enhanced through evidence-based rehabilitation programs.” The council will be co-chaired by Jared Kushner (who strongly supports sentencing reform) and Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (who is strongly opposed to sentencing reform). Government study groups like this are usually good for burying the problem for an extended period of time, although Trump has called for the council to produce a list of proposals within 90 days.

At the same time, the Washington Post has reported that the Administration is studying a new policy that could allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for drug dealers. President Trump last week suggested executing drug dealers as a effective way to make a dent in opioid addiction. Sources inside the White House say a final announcement could come within weeks. 

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the man with his hand on the Judiciary Committee throttle.
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the man with his hand on the Judiciary Committee throttle.

The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Gazette, last week reported on the feud festering between the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), and Sessions. Grassley’s desire to see his legislative baby, the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017, passed – and his fury at Sessions’ outspoken opposition to the bill – is spreading now to Grassley head-butting fellow Republicans who say they won’t support the bipartisan proposal to reform sentencing laws. The Gazette reports that Grassley may even side with Senate Democrats to block other legislation until his bill gets a fair shot. The SRCA drew bipartisan support last month, being voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 16-5 vote without any changes.

Ohio State University law professor Doug Berman suggested in his Sentencing Law and Policy blog last week that Grassley should add the White House death penalty proposals to SRCA “as part of an effort to get the White House and AG Sessions to support that bill. Even if drafted broadly, any federal ‘death penalty for drug dealers’ law would likely only impact a few dozen cases per year, whereas the SRCA will impact tens of thousands of cases every year. And the SRCA could help tens of thousands of least serious drug offenders while any death penalty bill would impact only the most serious drug offenders.”

sessions180312Meanwhile, in the juicy rumor department, Fox Business host Lou Dobbs called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign a week ago after President Trump and a number of Republicans criticized the AG. “Sessions has fallen ill, he’s incapacitated in some fashion, or he’s been coopted or captured: to preserve any dignity, for the good of the country he needs to resign,” Dobbs tweeted. Meanwhile, former Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama), who for years served in the Senate alongside Sessions, says that if he were in the AG’s position, he would stop taking abuse from Trump. “I wouldn’t stay at all unless the president wanted me to stay, if he appointed me,” Shelby said. “I wouldn’t be anybody’s whipping boy. I wouldn’t be belittled because the president’s saying he doesn’t have any confidence in you.”

Washington Examiner, Trump pardons Kristian Saucier, former sailor jailed for submarine pictures (Mar. 9, 2018)

Axios, Trump launches council for prison reform and crime prevention (Mar. 7, 2018)

Washington Post, Trump administration studies seeking the death penalty for drug dealers (Mar. 9, 2018)

Sentencing Law and Policy: Trump Administration reportedly looking (seriously?) at the death penalty for serious drug dealers (Mar. 10, 2018)

The Cedar Rapids Gazette, Grassley the maverick re-emerges in feud with Sessions (Mar. 6, 2018)

The Hill, Fox Business host claims ‘Sessions has fallen ill,’ calls for him to resign (Mar. 3, 2018)

The Hill, Alabama senator: If I were Sessions, I’d quit and stop being Trump’s ‘whipping boy’ (Mar. 1, 2018)

– Thomas L. Root

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President Lets Steam Out of Sentencing Reform Engine – Update for March 5, 2018

We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

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TRUMP TRAIN WRECKS SENTENCING REFORM


President Trump last Tuesday urged Congress to move ahead with legislation to help prisoners prepare for life after release, but did not call for sentencing reforms such as changing mandatory minimum sentences for drug and gun crimes.

trainwreck180305The White House said it sees no path forward for legislation to reduce mandatory minimum prison sentences, instead throwing its support behind measures aimed at reducing recidivism rates. “The conclusion we reached was that, at this time, it’s appropriate for us to go forward with prison reform,” a senior administration official said.

The Hill reported that Trump’s “position represents a major setback for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who has been working to move his criminal justice reform bill through Congress after it stalled last session.” US News said the problem is a divide between hard-liners and moderates, one that leaves “President Trump stranded in the middle and, as is the case on other issues such as gun control and immigration, not firmly in either camp.”

Criminal justice groups across the political spectrum have championed prison and reentry reform, including evangelical Christian organizations and business groups. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, supports sentencing reform as well, but in the last week, his personal problems have multiplied, and how long he can remain in the White House is uncertain.

sessions180215Even Kushner’s support has been too little to move forward any sentence changes, because of the opposition of Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III. President Trump is in the middle of a Twitter battle with Sessions, who Trump thinks has mishandled issues connected to the Russian meddling investigation, but seems to defer to Sessions on criminal justice reform issues.

Sen. Grassley told reporters on Wednesday the chances for his proposal, at the moment, aren’t very good. But he is not giving up. “This would be a bipartisan policy win for the Administration, and it seems like a no-brainer to me that we should get this done and the president would be backing it, Grassley said. He plans to use his substantial political clout to press Trump to change his mind. Axios noted last month that Trump bends over backwards to keep Grassley happy, because as Judiciary Chairman, Grassley played a crucial role in delivering two of Trump’s biggest successes: the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and a modern record number of circuit court judges approved in a president’s first year.

coldwater180305Nevertheless, Democrats and advocacy groups are not optimistic. Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), a Judiciary Committee member and Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017 supporter, said, “the landscape looks horrible to me, and we don’t see an appetite for making these kinds of changes.”

Ohio State University law professor Doug Berman said in his Sentencing Law and Policy blog last Wednesday that “for various reasons and for lots of offenders, significant prison reform could end up even more consequential than some proposed sentencing reform… Some version of the PRRA looks now to be the only significant federal criminal justice reform proposal with a realistic chance of becoming law in 2018.”

Reason.com, White House Touts Prison Reforms but Throws Cold Water on Sentencing Bill (Mar. 1, 2018)

US News, Trump Urges Prison Reform, not Sentencing Overhaul, After Pushback (Feb. 27, 2018)

The Hill, White House deals blow to Grassley’s criminal justice bill (Feb. 27, 2018)

Sentencing Law and Policy, Trump White House expresses opposition to sentencing reform part of SRCA of 2017 (Feb. 28, 2018)

– Thomas L. Root

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President Throws His Weight (Sort of) Behind Prison Reform – Update for February 5, 2018

We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

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TRUMP BACKS PRISON (NOT SENTENCING) REFORM

education180205During his State of the Union address last Tuesday, President Trump said his administration will pursue reforms to federal prison system reentry programs. “As America regains its strength, this opportunity must be extended to all citizens,” Trump said. “That is why this year we will embark on reforming our prisons to help former inmates who have served their time get a second chance.”

Trump brought up prison reform again last Thursday in a speech to GOP legislators during their retreat in West Virginia. “We can reform our prison system to help those who have served their time get a second chance at life,” he told the lawmakers.

A sharp split remains in Congress over sentencing reform, but there seems to be a consensus on prison reform. The difference between the two is this: sentencing reform focuses on reducing potential sentences – including mandatory minimums – while prison reform offers more reentry programs in prison, for which prisoners could get up extra days off for completing approved programs.

reform160201Trump’s comments are a change in tone for the President, who made tough-on-crime talk a standard of his 2016 presidential campaign. But even as he embraces prison reform, Trump suggests his Administration might seek tougher drug laws in response to the opioid crisis.

Supporters of reform are expressing cautious optimism that a deal can be made to improve conditions in federal prisons, bolster anti-recidivism efforts and allow federal prisoners to earn “time credits” for making it through education or other programs, despite legislative clashes over immigration and opioids and the impending midterm elections. Rep. Doug Collins (R-Georgia), an author of the bipartisan Prison Reform and Redemption Act (H.R. 3356), called the moment of apparent consensus “a unique opportunity.”

Ohio State University law prof and sentencing expert Doug Berman wrote last week that while “‘back-end’ prison reforms to facilitate earlier release from prison for all federal offenders and enhanced reentry efforts are quite possible and may truly be a priority for the Trump Administration; it would also seem that “front-end” sentencing reforms to reduce mandatory minimum terms for drug trafficking offenses many not be possible and may be actively opposed by the Trump Administration.”

The New Republic said that “reducing mandatory minimums and over-criminalization will be a tough sell, while programs to help prisoners re-enter society and find jobs could find a receptive audience in the White House.” However, the Administration cut back on BOP education programs last May, and further BOP job cuts may make it hard for the agency to find enough people to direct rehabilitation programs. Fewer staff means fewer programs means fewer qualified courses means fewer additional good-time credits. The New Republic said, “It would be a Nixon-in-China moment if Trump genuinely tried to combat mass incarceration—which is to say, it’s highly unlikely.”

nixon180205Yet less than a week later, the same author in the same magazine suggested that “Trump’s rhetoric of late gives hope for bipartisan efforts in Congress to push through a criminal-justice reform bill this year. While Trump prides himself as a master dealmaker, he’s been content to let Republican lawmakers and his top advisers sketch the details of major legislation on health care, tax reform, and immigration. As long as he’s not actively hostile to whatever lawmakers send him, reformers could find Trump more amenable to the final package if they can convince him it’s a win.”

Reason.com, Trump says in SOTU that Administration will pursue prison reforms (Jan. 30, 2018)

Gant News, ‘American carnage’ President presides over prison reform push (Feb. 2, 2018)

Sentencing Law and Policy, Prez Trump, in his first State of the Union address, mentions “reforming our prisons” and need to “get much tougher on drug dealers” (Jan. 30, 2018)

The New Republic, Is Trump serious about prison reform? (Jan. 30, 2018)

The New Republic, A Chance for Criminal-Justice Reform Under Trump (Feb. 5, 2018)

– Thomas L. Root

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