A major prosecutors organization threw its weight behind a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill, an endorsement that could help Senate negotiators allay lingering concerns that the legislation could benefit dangerous criminals.
“As a result of months of changes and good-faith negotiations, our organization feels the latest version of the bill strikes the appropriate balance between targeting the highest level drug traffickers plaguing our communities, while simultaneously decreasing crime rates and addressing the burgeoning prison population,” William Fitzpatrick, president of the National District Attorneys Association, wrote in a Tuesday letter to Senate leaders.
That’s a victory for lawmakers who revised the bill in an attempt to win more Republican support, particularly because it offers a rebuttal to the police groups who described the updated bill as “favorable from a drug cartel’s perspective.” The letter comes just a few days after the Republican National Committee adopted a resolution in support of criminal justice reform. Still, Senate Republicans are split over whether the early release of some prisoners would cause an increase in violent crime, causing the bill to stall despite having broad support.
An unusual coalition of powerful Republican and Democratic senators supports the legislation, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is unlikely to allow the bill to come to the floor if it divides Republicans. With just 13 GOP senators in favor of the original version, the bill’s GOP architects — Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Mike Lee — negotiated with Democrats to make revisions that could attract law-and-order Republicans.
Their efforts met with strong opposition from some law enforcement groups. “Provisions that were viewed as favorable from a law enforcement perspective have now been removed, and provisions that could be viewed as favorable from a drug cartel’s perspective have been added,” the head of four police and anti-drug trafficking groups wrote to senators in an April 11 letter.
Fitzpatrick contradicted that warning while praising the revised legislation. “One previous concern our members highlighted was the retroactive nature of many provisions in the original bill,” Fitzpatrick wrote. “The new version takes into account that concern by limiting the retroactivity where applicable if an individual’s record contains any serious violent felony. We feel this filters out the truly dangerous individuals who should stay out of the community, while allowing lower level offenders a chance for redemption.”
Cornyn, Grassley and Lee have delayed an official rollout of the new legislation to lobby GOP colleagues to back the bill. So far, they’ve added three Senate Republicans to their list of allies.
“We applaud the bipartisan leadership of the senators and staff who have spent considerable time working on this compromise legislation,” Fitzpatrick wrote. “Their tireless efforts have included open and transparent communication with our organization and members, which has not gone unnoticed.”
