Dozens of senior law enforcement officials from around the country are calling on the Senate to pass a criminal justice reform bill.
In a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid by the U.S. Justice Action Network, former FBI Directors Louis Freeh and William Sessions, as well as former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, among other deputy attorneys general, argue the Senate’s Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act “is good for federal law enforcement and public safety,” and “will more effectively ensure that justice shall be done.”
“We all have one thing in common: at one time or another we all served as senior Department of Justice officials, United States attorneys, assistant United States attorneys, or other government officials including judges,” the letter said. “We all deeply believe in notions of fairness in the administration of justice, and many of us pursued successful prosecutions and argued for appropriate and substantial punishments in federal courts.”
In mid-October, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act in a 15-5 vote, though it has not been brought to the Senate floor yet. The U.S. Justice Action Network had sent a letter to bill co-sponsors Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., applauding the bill before it went through markup and eventual passage. The White House and President Obama have also expressed support for the bipartisan legislation.
In addition to reducing mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug offenses and armed career criminals, the bill would require the federal government to create and publish a database of all federal crimes, and create a new system for assessing the risk level of federal prisoners. Solitary confinement on juvenile offenders would be restricted, and judges would have more discretion in sentencing.
It also increases mandatory minimum sentences for other offenses, such as domestic violence or for providing support to terrorist organizations.
The bill was originally introduced in the beginning of October, and its companion bill has also passed through the House Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is also slated to hold hearings Wednesday morning to examine the adequacy of criminal intent, known as mens rea, standards in federal prosecutions.
