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Whither Sentence Reform After Biden Win? – Update for November 9, 2020

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

SENTENCE REFORM DIDN’T WIN LAST TUESDAY, BUT IT DIDN’T LOSE, EITHER

Reform200819Anyone who read the House of Representatives’ version of The First Step Act (which was watered down substantially to satisfy the Republican-led Senate) or, for that matter, exulted at the House’s HEROES Act last May has some idea what an unbridled Democratic-controlled Congress and White House might do to advance sentence reform. Retroactivity, relaxed compassionate release and elderly offender programs, maybe even some relief for people convicted of violent crimes…

We probably did not get that last week. The Democrats still control the House (but with a smaller majority), and the weekend brought us a Democrat for president-elect. The Senate has 50 Republicans and 48 Democrats, however, with the final two Senate races in Georgia not to be decided until January. If even one of the two eventual winners is Republican (which is likely), the Republicans and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) will still rule the Senate.

But that does not mean we won’t see some criminal justice reform in the next two-year Congress. President-elect Joe Biden spent decades in the Senate, and one of his great strengths is the ability to make deals. “And perhaps most importantly,” Politico reported last week, “Biden and McConnell have a real relationship — forged over the years as Senate colleagues and combatants. McConnell was the only Senate Republican to attend the funeral for Biden’s son Beau in 2015, and he’s largely stayed away from GOP attacks on Biden’s other son, Hunter.”

“They have negotiated big things before. They’ve come through some very hard and even bitter fights over judicial confirmations,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a close Biden ally, told Politico in an interview. “But I think they’ve managed to stay friends or have a working, professional relationship even in the hardest of times.”

potscooby180713Voters may be ready for change. The Appeal called last Tuesday “a banner election against the war on drugs,” noting that Oregon voters approved a “groundbreaking initiative to decriminalize drugs” – not just marijuana – making low-level drug possession a civil offense, punishable by a fine, rather than jail time. Four other states made recreational pot legal, raising the number of states permitting it to 15.

President Trump, who was himself a reluctant supporter of the First Step Act, reminded everyone during the campaign that Biden was the sponsor of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1993,  (which morphed into the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994) – legislation that  critics claim is responsible for the large numbers of federal prisons locked up today. Some suggest that that fact gives the president-elect something to live down. For that matter, the vice-president elect, Kamala Harris, was hardly progressive during her days as a prosecutor. Some are already predicting she will lead the sentencing-law reform efforts of the Biden administration.

In his Sentencing Law and Policy blog, Ohio State University law professor Doug Berman said priorities that ought to be able to garner the bipartisan support of a Republican Senate and Democratic White House include repeal of mandatory minimums, further reduction of the crack/powder sentencing disparity, making all sentencing reforms retroactive, reinvigoration of compassionate release “so that the sick and elderly are transitioned out of incarceration so long as they do not pose a public safety risk,” and removing barriers to reentry.

bipartisanship201109Berman suggests that Politico’s observation that “’McConnell has already succeeded in his longtime goal of reshaping the judiciary’ has me wondering whether Senator McConnell might be less adverse to giving federal judges significantly more sentencing discretion now that he views so many as the product of his own king-making.”

Politico, America’s new power couple: Mitch and Joe (Nov 5)

The Appeal, How Criminal Justice Reform Fared at the Ballot Box on Tuesday (Nov 5)

Sentencing Law and Policy, Can we be hopeful federal leaders will make deals to advance federal criminal justice reforms in the next Congress? (Nov 6)

– 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

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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

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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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Could Sessions’ War on Pot Light Up Congress? – Update for February 8, 2018

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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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SESSIONS UPSETS CONGRESS WITH CHANGE IN POT POLICY

sessions180119Last week, after Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III gave federal prosecutors free rein to begin marijuana busts even state law allows possession and sale, dozens of lawmakers from both parties are seeking legislation that would handcuff Sessions on pot.

“It has awakened a sleeping giant,” Dana Rohrabacher (R-California) said of the Congressional response to Sessions repealing the Cole memorandum, a policy from the Obama administration that tolerated pot companies in states that legalized the drug. “The move by Sessions on the Cole memo has really activated people who were not active before, both inside Congress and across the country,” Rohrabacker was quoted as saying by BuzzFeed News.

Last Tuesday, 54 lawmakers sent President Trump a letter asking him to honor his campaign promise to leave marijuana “up to the states” and override Sessions. A few weeks earlier, 69 lawmakers — including 15 Republicans — sent House leadership a letter urging them to adopt an amendment in the next annual spending bill.

marijuana160818The measure would prevent the Justice Department from using any funds to interfere with a state’s marijuana legalization scheme, similar to prior thereby staving off Sessions. There is precedent for this. Since December 2014’s passage of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015, Congress has effectively prohibited federal prosecution for medical marijuana sale and use that complies with state law by denying DOJ the right to spend any money to prosecute for conduct that complies with state law. Congress has the power to do the same for recreational marijuana laws, and courts have recognized that the spending ban prevents DOJ prosecution of people in those states.

Anything that drives a wedge between Congress and Sessions lessens the extent of the AG’s influence in keeping Congress from enacting sentencing reform (although it still leaves the President to mollify).

BuzzFeed, Jeff Sessions is making Congress mad with his pot policy, and it may backfire (Jan. 29, 2018)

United States v. McIntosh, 833 F.3d 1163 (9th Cir. 2016)

– Thomas L. Root

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

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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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Lots of Heat Generated Last Week on Sentence Reform – But is There Light? – Update for January 16, 2018

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TRUMP HOLDS WHITE HOUSE MEETING ON SENTENCING REFORM

justicereform161128President Trump and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser, met with criminal justice reform advocates last Thursday on prison reform and re-entry, as well as the successes states such as Georgia, Kansas and Kentucky have had in enacting programs aimed at reducing recidivism rates and rehabilitating inmates. The White House described the meeting as being intended to explore strategies to “equip nonviolent prisoners with the skills and opportunities needed for an honest second chance to correct their course in life and return to society as productive, law-abiding citizens.”

Trump said his administration is committed to helping former inmates become productive, law abiding members of society. “Two-thirds of the 650,000 people released from prison each year are arrested again within three years. We can help break this vicious cycle through job training, very important, job training, mentoring and drug addiction treatment… We’ll be very tough on crime, but we will provide a ladder of opportunity for the future.”

A White House official told The Hill that prison reform was discussed at the presidential retreat at Camp David a week ago weekend and that the Administration has been hosting roundtable discussions on prison reform and re-entry since last summer.

Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III
Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III – like inviting the fox to a meeting on chicken coop security.

Guests at Thursday’s meeting included Matt Schlapp, board chairman of the American Conservative Union; Brooke Rollins, president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation; Republican Governors Matt Bevin (Kentucky) and Sam Brownback (Kansas); Koch Industries general counsel Mark Holden; and Shon Hopwood, a former federal inmate who is now an associate professor at Georgetown University Law Center and a member of the FAMM Board of Directors. Thursday’s discussion also included Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III and Trump’s chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly.

The meeting emboldened some advocates who saw it as a sign the White House is officially on board with criminal justice reform. “It has long been an excuse used on the Hill that we need to see where the White House is on this issue and this is the positive signal the folks on the Hill have been waiting on,” said Holly Harris, executive director of Justice Action Network. “I don’t think there’s going to be any more justifications to hold up this legislation,” she said.

Holden came away from the meeting with a sense of optimism. The President Trump was an active participant during the 45-minute session. “I saw some passion there,” he said. “He seemed like he got the issue, understood it and connected with it.” Holden said he hopes prison reform can be the start to broader federal criminal justice reform.

Rollins said, “I really think the White House is looking at lots of different avenues forward,” from congressional action to executive orders. Sessions, who has criticized granting leniency to drug offenders and supports mandatory minimums, suggested at the meeting he might be open to compromise on ideas such as job training. “The president talking about prison reform is a good thing,” said Kevin Ring, president of FAMM.

The meeting was not without its critics. Mark Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project, said, “more re-entry programming, the kind Kushner is suggesting, would be welcome, but a sole focus on that initiative reveals two grievous flaws. First, the programming provisions being discussed on Capitol Hill contain no funding allocation. Apparently, there is hope that faith-based organizations will emerge to provide these services pro bono… Second, dropping the sentencing provisions of the Grassley-Durbin legislation from the Trump administration’s reform conversations guarantees that there will be no significant inroads made into reversing mass incarceration. Thousands of federal drug defendants will be sentenced to decades of incarceration and resources will be squandered that could more effectively be directed to prevention and treatment initiatives.”

trump180116Others have objected that the meeting does not include any liberal groups. However, an anonymous conservative participant told Reuters that “excluding organizations that are seen as liberal, like the ACLU or the NAACP, and leaving out sentencing reform was necessary to gain thetea leaves, I think what they’ve done is sat down with Mr. Sessions and got him to agree to part of the reforms,” said the conservative leader, who requested anonymity in order to freely discuss the issue.

Meanwhile, the American Bar Association sent a letter to Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Diane Feinstein (D-California), in support of the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017. ABA President Hilarie Bass said that while the ABA was “disappointed by the inclusion of some new mandatory minimum sentencing provisions in the current draft, we believe that S. 1917 will, overall, create a more just criminal justice system than the one currently in place. Enactment will help focus prosecutorial and correctional resources on offenders who commit serious crimes that pose the greatest risk to public safety and will permit more sentencing flexibility for low-level, nonviolent offenders whose role and culpability will now receive more careful and balanced consideration by sentencing judges. It will also expand recidivism-reducing programs and juvenile justice reform to make sure that those in prison have a chance to reintegrate into society.”’

Finally, Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California) were both named to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. Sen. Booker has sponsored criminal justice reform legislation in the past, and is a co-sponsor of SRCA17. Sen. Harris has occasionally supported criminal justice reform, such as when she joined with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) to back bail reform.

harris180116Some question Sen. Harris’s sincerity, however. As San Francisco’s district attorney and then as California’s attorney general, Harris rarely strayed far from a punitive law-and-order mentality. Last week, Reason warned that “Criminal justice reformers shouldn’t get their hopes up that she’ll be a reliable ally. During her time as San Francisco’s district attorney, Harris oversaw the city’s mismanaged crime lab. A San Francisco superior court judge ruled that the D.A.’s office ignored demands that it take responsibility for the lab’s failings, and that it violated defendants’ rights by hiding information about a corrupt technician who had been stealing cocaine.”

The Hill, Trump, Kushner meet with advocates on prison reform (Jan. 11, 2018)

Newsweek, Trump and Kushner’s prison reform plan not expected to reduce sentences or fix prison conditions (Jan. 11, 2018)

Reason.com, Kamala Harris: No Friend to Criminal Justice Reform (Jan. 12, 2018)

– Thomas L. Root LISAStatHeader2small

“Let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!” – Update for December 26, 2017

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AND YOU WONDER WHY…

cromwell171226Oliver Cromwell threw out the Rump Parliament with criticism that seems altogether contemporary, given the diatribes that come from the Right against the Left and the Left against the Right. But we tend to be single-issue voters, so our interest is not so much pro-Trump or anti-Trump as it is pro-common sense on sentencing reform.

A few weeks ago, we reported that Rex Tillerson might get dumped as Secretary of State, a matter of little importance to most of us except that the shuffling that might occur as a result would move Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) to the CIA.

For those of you who yawned at our report on Potomoc machinations, the following report may explain our enthusiasm for moving Sen. Cotton as far from a vote on sentencing reform as he can get. Legislation that would update and overhaul the nation’s juvenile justice system has stalled over a single Republican senator’s concern over whether youths should be locked up for low-level status offenses. The bills, already passed in the House and Senate (and now in conference committee to smooth out differences), have come to a screeching halt because of one senator – Tom Cotton.

kidsjail171226Sen. Cotton likes seeing children thrown into kiddie jail, and he has thus long opposed measures that would keep youthful offenders from being locked up for violating piddling offenses like curfew and school attendance. In fact, he was able to see that the Senate version of the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act did not soften laws that jailed minors for insignificant offenses. But the House version phases out all incarceration for such “status offenses” — including judicial orders — over the next three years.

Now, Sen. Cotton has refused to let the very bipartisan bill go to conference without a guarantee that the status offenses provision is a dead issue. “We have to get around Cotton, who won’t move,” said Marcy Mistrett, chief executive officer of the Campaign for Youth Justice, which supports the House bill. “He’s been very clear on that.”

Staffers for Reps. Jason Lewis (R-Minnesota) and Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina) have been working to resolve Sen. Cotton’s concerns, a GOP House aide said.

Rep. Lewis and co-sponsor Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia), “are encouraging the Senate to move quickly to conference so that we can iron out the small differences between the two bills, and get the president a bill with vital reforms to the juvenile justice system.”

cotton171226That, in a nutshell, is why Sen. Cotton, who was opposed to the Sentence Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 a year ago, is so toxic to the chances of sentencing reform in the next few months. New York Times columnist and curmudgeonly conservative William Safire once was criticized for calling President Nixon a pimple on the ass of progress. He apologized, admitting that his description was wrong. “I should have said ‘boil’,” he ruefully admitted.

Thus to Sen. Cotton.

Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, Sen. Cotton Blocking Juvenile Justice Update Bill from Conference Committee (Dec. 15, 2017)

– Thomas L. Root

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Sentence Reform – Wither Goest Thou? – Update for October 30, 2017

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LISA DOES A ROAD TRIP 2

roadtrip171027We reported last Friday on our trip to Washington for the “Advancing Justice, An Agenda for Human Dignity & Public Safety,” a conference sponsored by the Charles Koch Institute.

Today’s installment is Part 2 of our coverage:

SPEAKERS HINT AT SRCA PROSPECTS

The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017 (S.1917) is currently before a subcommittee of Senator Charles Grassley’s Judiciary Committee, but we’ve been there before. The 2015 version of the SRCA was approved by the Judiciary Committee, only to die on the Senate floor because leadership refused to bring it to a vote during a presidential election season.

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.

What is lost in the story of the 2015-16 attempts to pass SRCA is that the bill that came out of the Committee was not the same bill that went in. Instead, a lot of the retroactivity written into the bill as drafted was taken out to please law-and-order conservatives like then-Sen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (now Attorney General) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas).

Sen. Grassley, one of the SRCA sponsors, said at the Advancing Justice conference that the drafters of SRCA17 “kept the package balanced,” taking into account the views of the prior bill’s critics. He said that to those “wanting reasonable compromise, we will be willing partners.”

Sen. Grassley cited a number of pending criminal justice reform bills, including the Smarter Sentencing Act (S.1933), the Mens Rea Reform Act (S.1902) and the CORRECTIONS Act (S.1994), implying that one comprehensive piece of sentencing reform legislation may emerge from the Judiciary Committee that includes pieces of many or all of these bills.

Sen. Grassley’s favorable reference to the Smarter Sentencing Act is a lot different from what he thought two years ago, when he denounced “the arguments for the Smarter Sentencing Act [as] merely a weak attempt to defend the indefensible.” In fact, his complaint that mandatory minimum laws are “too severe” and give prosecutors too much discretion is a major change from 2015, when he complained in a Senate speech about the dangers of the “leniency industrial complex” and “a growing public misconception that mandatory sentences for drug offenders needed to be reduced.”

stars171030So are the stars aligned differently in this Congress? Marc Levin ot the Texas Public Policy Institute told a session on the future of sentencing reform that “part of the strategy is to have as comprehensive a [sentencing reform] package as possible, without making perfect the enemy of the good.” Both left- and right-wing politicians are working on sentencing reform, and Koch Industries general counsel Mark Holden thinks that Attorney General Sessions will not be an impediment to the bill’s passage, despite what Levin called Sessions’ “real difference of opinion” on sentencing reform.

One potential stumbling block may be the Mens Rea Reform Act (S.1902). That Act would add a default rule for juries, requiring them to find criminal intent for federal offenses that don’t explicitly have an intent standard. If enacted, the Act would specify a default state of mind of “willfully,” and would require that unless the statute specified otherwise, AUSAs would have to prove the state of mind for every element of the offense. For example, a felon-in-possession charge under 18 USC 922(g) (which does not specify a state of mind) would require proof that the defendant possessed a gun that had traveled in interstate commerce intending to break the law. Currently, the government only must show the defendant knew he or she possessed a gun, not that the gun had traveled interstate and not that he or she knew the law prohibited possession.

mensrea160124Conservatives and criminal-defense organizations argue the measure is a necessary part of the congressional effort to reform sentencing and incarceration. Some Senate Democrats, however, fear the measure is far too sweeping and could be a back-door attack on federal regulations that police corporate behavior.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D – Rhode Island), a member of the Judiciary Committee, told the Atlantic magazine last week that he wouldn’t support a sentencing reform bill containing the change in mens rea proposed by the MRRA. “It would turn me into a warrior against it,” he said. Chuck Schumer (New York), the Democratic leader in the Senate, also was quoted as saying he would oppose such a bill.

Ohio State University law professor and sentencing expert Douglas Berman wrote pessimistically last Friday about the effect the MRRA could have on sentencing reform:

I have said before and will say again that this kind of opposition to a reform designed to safeguard a fundamental part of a fair and effective federal criminal justice system shows just how we got to a world with mass incarceration and mass supervision and mass collateral consequences.  Nobody seems willing or able to understand that making life easier for prosecutors anywhere serves to increase the size and reach and punitiveness of our criminal justice systems everywhere.  In turn, if you want a less extreme and severe criminal justice system anywhere, the best way to advance the cause is by seeking and advocating to limit government prosecutorial powers everywhere.

Sentencing Law & Policy, Is it time for new optimism or persistent pessimism on the latest prospects for statutory federal sentencing reform? (Oct. 28, 2017)

The Atlantic, Could a Controversial Bill Sink Criminal-Justice Reform in Congress? (Oct. 26, 2017)

– Thomas L. Root

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Talking Sentence Reform At “Advancing Justice” – Update for Friday, October 27, 2017

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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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LISA DOES A ROAD TRIP

roadtrip171027We were in Washington, D.C., yesterday for the “Advancing Justice, An Agenda for Human Dignity & Public Safety,” a conference sponsored by the Charles Koch Institute.

“Advancing Justice” featured a thundering herd of prosecutors, public defenders, economists, doctors and law professors who focused on federal sentencing reform, over-criminalization, the opioid crisis, and effective rehabilitation.

Charles Koch, one of the often-denounced conservative Koch brothers (Koch Industries), is one of the staunchest sentencing reform supporters in the country. Through the Charles Koch Foundation, he has put his money where his mouth is, and bankrolled reforms that have or will have broad support from the right and the left.

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SRCA SPONSORS MAKE THEIR CASE

The Sentence Reform and Corrections Act of 2107 would pass the Senate with 70 votes if it were voted on today, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) told the Advancing Justice conference yesterday.

advj171027The SRCA introduced in 2015 passed Sen. Grassley’s committee 15-5, and both he and Sen. Lee said it would have overwhelmingly passed the Senate had it been brought to a vote. Sen. Grassley said “election year pressures” were responsible for the bill stalling. Mark Holden, Koch Industries general counsel – who spearheaded Koch pressure in favor of the 2015 version of SRCA – was blunter about it: “Presidential politics killed the last Sentence Reform and Corrections Act,” he told one of the sessions focusing on the future of federal sentence reform.

Holden and Sen. Grassley separately noted that there is support within the Trump Administration for a reform bill. Holden noted that while it was well known that White House advisor Jared Kushner – President Trump’s son-in-law – supported sentencing reform because his father had done time for a white-collar offense – others in the Administration support it as well. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Housing Secretary Ben Carson are strong supporters of the measure. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), the Speaker of the House, is “very passionate” about sentence reform, Holden said.

Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III
Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III

Most of the attention has been focused on Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, who reportedly opposes sentencing reform. Holden suggested Sessions “not a real negative.” Sessions’ job, as he acknowledged at his confirmation hearing, is to enforce the laws, not make them. “He has his opinion,” Holden said. Sen. Lee told the conference that Sessions, with whom Lee served in the Senate until early this year, “is willing to work with us on sentencing reform” despite the fact Sessions voted against SRCA15 because he argued it went too far in reducing mandatory minimum sentences for some crimes.

Sen. Grassley said he had supported tougher sentencing in the 1980s and 90s, including mandatory minimum legislation, because it was the right solution to the rising crime rate at the time. But now, he admits “it makes sense to revisit” the laws. He said mandatory minimums are “too severe” and give prosecutors too much discretion in charging. Noting that 25% of DOJ budget is now spent on prisons, Sen. Grassley said the SRCA would “free up federal resources and give prisoners a chance to reform.”

Sen. Lee agreed. “We have finite resources to fight crime. The more spent on prisons, the less is left for enforcement, making communities safer… What we’re doing now on sentencing is not working,” said Sen. Lee, a former federal prosecutor.

He challenged those who oppose reform proposals to share their ideas. “We have to get to the politicians on this.” He said legislators are looking at how to properly identify low-level nonviolent drug offenders. Contrary to AG Sessions’ view, Sen. Lee said the act of drug trafficking “itself is not violent.”

moses171027“The federal sentencing laws were not handed down from Mt. Sinai,” Sen. Lee said. The SRCA is “just a matter of common sense and sound public policy.” The problem, Lee and Holden suggested, was that SRCA supporters will run into the charge that they are “soft on crime.”

“We are going to have address the argument that ‘you are soft on crime’,” Sen. Lee said. “There are not the same market drivers in the federal sphere” as in state criminal justice reform. States cannot “kick the can down the road” like Congress can. At the state level, Sen. Lee said, the argument is to be “smart on crime, soft on taxpayers.” At the federal level, it “still works to be tough on crime. But every state that has done [sentence reform] had reduced crime rates and saved money.”

Axios, an online news site, reported that Lee said to a reporter afterwards that he wants a vote on SRCA before the end of the year, but with health care and tax reform in focus, the criminal justice reform bill has yet to be a priority.

The Crime Report, Federal Sentencing Reform Alive, Senators Insist (Oct. 27, 2017)

– Thomas L. Root

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What’s New Is Old in Criminal Justice Reform – Update for October 4, 2017

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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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HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

Two bills looking to reshape the nation’s criminal justice system were introduced this week, and all of sudden, criminal justice advocates are partying like it’s 2015.

party171004Leading the pack, a pack of influential senators led by Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) announced the introduction of S. 1917, the Sentence Reform and Corrections Act of 2017.  SRCA17 – a retread of the Sentence Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 – is aimed at easing sentences for some federal offenders, such as for drug crimes, while beefing up other tough-on-crime laws. The measure would get rid of the federal three-strike law mandatory life sentence for some repeat drug offenders, three-strike but would also allow some people with previous convictions for serious violent and serious drug felonies to face enhanced penalties.

“This bill strikes the right balance of improving public safety and ensuring fairness in the criminal justice system,” said Grassley, who is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “It is the product of much thoughtful deliberation, and we will continue to welcome input from stakeholders as we move forward.”

obtaining-clemencySRCA17 reportedly reduces the enhanced penalties that apply to repeat drug offenders and eliminates the three-strike mandatory life provisions for some offenders; expands the existing safety valve to offenders with more extensive criminal histories, and creates a second safety valve that gives judges discretion to sentence certain low-level offenders below the 10-year mandatory minimum; expands the reach of the enhanced mandatory minimum for violent firearm offenders to those with prior federal or state firearm offenses but reduces that mandatory minimum to provide courts with greater flexibility in sentencing; requires the Dept of Justice to conduct risk assessments to classify all federal inmates and to use the results to assign inmates to appropriate recidivism reduction programs, including work and education programs, drug rehabilitation, job training, and faith-based programs, permitting prisoners who successfully complete these programs to get early release and to spend up to 25% of their remaining sentence in home confinement or a halfway house; and provides for a report and inventory of all federal criminal offenses.

Sen. Grassley has not revealed his scheduling plan for marking up SRCA17. Its 2015 predecessor passed the Judiciary Committee 15-5 during the last Congress, but never reached a floor vote due to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), who did not want the measure voted on during the contentious 2016 presidential campaign.

A bipartisan coalition of legislators supports SRCA17, including Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott (both R-South Carolina), Jeff Flake (R-Arizona), Roy Blunt (R-Missouri), Dianne Feinstein (D-California), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Cory Booker (D-New Jersey).

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The Attorney General, whom President Trump says is “an idiot,” will likely oppose SRCA17.

SRCA17 will enjoy support from White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, who is interested in reforming the federal criminal justice system and previously has met with senators about the issue. The bill will undoubtedly be opposed by Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, a man recently described by President Trump as an idiot, who helped kill SRCA15 when he was a senator.

Meanwhile, five Republican senators Ted Cruz (Texas), Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee (both of Utah), Rand Paul (Kentucky), David Perdue (Georgia) introduced S. 1902, the Mens Rea Reform Act, on Monday. The MRRA would prevent the government from convicting someone of a federal crime without proving they committed the crime “knowingly and willfully.”

This is the second time Republicans in Congress have introduced “mens rea” reform, presenting a similar bill in 2015 that never made it out of committee.

Daily Caller, October 3, 2017: Senate Republicans team with Democrats in another push for soft sentencing

Politico, October 4, 2017: Senators unveil bipartisan criminal justice reform package

The Daily Signal, October 3, 2017: Criminal justice reform is alive and well in Congress

– Thomas L. Root

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