A coalition of civil rights groups is pushing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to pass bipartisan sentencing reform legislation in the weeks after the November election.
In a letter sent to the Kentucky Republican, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights called the failure to vote on and pass the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act a “deep disappointment.”
“We strongly urge you to bring it to a floor vote during the lame duck session,” the coalition wrote in the letter, sent Thursday.
The legislation, the coalition said, “is an important first step toward addressing some of the racial disparities that have persisted in the federal criminal justice system, as well as the exorbitant cost to the taxpayers caused by the unsustainable and unnecessary growth in the federal prison population.”
The NAACP, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law also signed the letter.
The Sentencing Reforms and Corrections Act is a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill that was introduced a year ago by Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, but the Senate hasn’t acted on it. It would reduce the 20-year mandatory sentences for drug crimes to 15-year sentences, and reduce the mandatory minimum sentence for people convicted of three drug crimes from life without parole to 25 years imprisonment.
“We hope that your words and experiences over the last fifty years have been a down payment on a commitment to civil rights. By bringing up the S. 2123 for a vote, you will demonstrate a firm commitment to the advancement of civil rights, not only in words but also in action,” the letter urged.
Congress returns to session mid-November, but little is expected to happen in those weeks aside from passing a spending bill for the rest of the fiscal year, and dealing with the outcome of the election itself, such as a possible shift in control of the Senate and possibly the House.
