Pubdate: Fri, 02 Oct 2015
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2015 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
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Note: Los Angeles Times
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LAWMAKERS UNVEIL CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORMS

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan group of Senate leaders on Thursday 
announced a joint effort to ease unduly long prison sentences and 
enact other criminal justice reforms, but chances that Congress will 
actually act on the issues are slim, given that lawmakers in the 
House are developing separate proposals.

The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, introduced by Sen. 
Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., top leaders 
on the Senate Judiciary Committee, calls for shorter prison terms for 
drug felons and eliminates the so-called "three strikes" rule 
mandating life sentences. It also seeks to end mass long-term 
incarceration of prisoners that has led to severe prison overcrowding 
and skyrocketing costs.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said the measure was the result of three 
years studying criminal justice reform.

"The United States incarcerates more of its citizens than other 
country on Earth," Durbin said. "Mandatory minimum sentences were 
once seen as a strong deterrent. In reality they have too often been 
unfair, fiscally irresponsible and a threat to public safety."

Federal sentencing guidelines, imposed by Congress on judges to help 
fight rising crime in the 1980s, took away much of the power of 
individual judges to grant leniency and treat each defendant 
separately. In addition, federal criminal code changes have allowed 
prosecutors to file enhancement charges that in many cases have 
stretched prison terms to near life sentences and beyond.

Washington for years has been trying to tackle sentencing reform, 
evident in numerous proposals coming out of Capitol Hill. President 
Barack Obama recently spoke at a prison strongly advocating 
sentencing reforms. In addition, Pope Francis in his recent trip to 
the U.S. visited a Pennsylvania prison and also called for changes.

In the House last year, a task force of lawmakers researching 
"over-criminalization" issues drafted their own recommendations for 
streamlining the sentencing process.

In June, a bipartisan team of House members introduced the SAFE 
Justice Act that would allow judges to sentence defendants as they 
saw fit, and not by a uniform system ordered by Congress. It also 
would permit some long-term inmates to seek retroactive reductions in 
their sentences.

"It's very comprehensive. It's a bill that literally crawls into the 
nooks and crannies of the criminal code and pulls out reform," said 
Mary Price, general counsel for Families Against Mandatory Minimums, 
a nonprofit organization working for smarter sentencing laws, of the 
House proposal. "It's thorough and thoughtful."

A bipartisan group of 40 co-sponsors in the House has added their 
support to the measure. Also endorsing it are a diverse number of 
advocacy organizations, including the conservative Koch brothers and 
the more liberal American Civil Liberties Union, and FAMM as well.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom