Senators reach deal to reduce prison time for some offenders
Congress moving closer to reducing federal prison population
WASHINGTON -- Prospects are improving for long-stalled legislation to reduce mandatory sentences for non-violent drug offenders and other measures to reduce the federal prison population.
A bipartisan group of senators, led by the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced agreement this week on legislation that would reduce mandatory sentences for non-violent drug offenders while allowing inmates to qualify for reduced sentences by participating in recidivism reduction programs.
In the House, Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, announced support for bipartisan efforts already underway to develop a package of criminal justice bills also designed to reduce long sentences for non-violent offenders.
Scalise's office recently organized a visit to the U.S. Penitentiary in Hazleton, W.Va., for staffers from the offices of outgoing Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and others, including Richmond and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer.
Richmond said that if the Senate moves criminal justice overhaul legislation he believes it will put pressure on the Republican-led House to follow suit. He had suggested that Scalise get involved in legislative efforts to help reform the nation's criminal justice system, and is hopeful Scalise will eventually embrace specific legislation to bring to the House floor.
"I'm hopeful that we can find common ground on reforming our broken criminal justice system in the near future," Richmond said. "Comprehensive legislation like the Safe Justice Act adopts practices that have been proven to be effective at the state level to bring the entire system more in line with our values as a nation. I am committed to working with every member who shares this view and is dedicated to getting something done."
Richmond has pushed for legislation minimizing use of solitary confinement, which he says is being "overused for 'administrative' reasons to avoid providing treatment for the mentally ill and rehabilitation for those who will return to society." The Safe Justice Act that he has co-sponsored would require the attorney general to consider alternatives to criminal prosecution in non-violent cases, including use of civil court procedures and drug treatment referrals.
There are 205,000 federal prison inmates, nearly 5,700 of them in Louisiana. In 1980, there were fewer than 20,000 federal prisoners nationwide. And the costs of incarceration are staggering. In 2013, federal officials said the cost of housing a federal inmate averaged $29,291.25 a year, or $80.25 per day.
In the Senate, the bipartisan legislation unveiled this week brought together some of the Senate's most liberal members, such as Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the Judiciary Committee's top Democrat, and Sen. Corey Booker, D-N.J., with some of the most conservative, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.
"It certainly is an exciting day when you get a bipartisan coalition from the far right like myself and others to the far left, as well," Scott said.
Booker said he has been despondent at times as many months went by without an agreement on criminal justice legislation.
"We have a serious problem in our country," Booker said. "We are notable among humanity for being the most incarcerated nation. It is a distinction no one should be proud of. We shouldn't have 5 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the world's prison population." Booker said that families of men and women locked up for non-violent drug crimes are often left without their primary breadwinner, contributing to high poverty rates in many communities.
Grassley said that President Barack Obama's plan to commute long sentences for non-violent offenders could free 45,000 federal inmates, and 6,600 should get relief from long sentences if the Senate bill is adopted.
Lee, one of the most conservative members, said he's convinced that many drug sentences are just not reasonable, citing the case of a 26-year-old man arrested three times for sale of marijuana, twice while carrying a gun, that netted him a 55-year-prison sentence, leaving him facing imprisonment until age 80.
"Since my time as a federal prosecutor, I have been concerned that federal sentencing laws too often require punishments that just don't fit the crime," Lee said. "These laws require many nonviolent offenders to spend years in prison often with few opportunities for meaningful reform."
Grassley, the Judiciary Committee chairman, had been skeptical about criminal justice reform in the past. But he called the newly negotiated bill balanced, addressing "legitimate over-incarceration concerns while targeting violent criminals and masterminds in the drug trade."
The legislation, years in the making, comes as disparate voices have spoken as one in saying the current system is broken, from President Barack Obama to the ACLU to the conservative Koch Industries. At the same time, national attention has focused on how police and criminal justice treat minorities after several deaths of black men at the hands of police, including high-profile cases in Missouri and Maryland.
The legislation announced Thursday would give judges the discretion to give sentences below the mandatory minimum for nonviolent drug offenders. Some current inmates could get their sentences reduced by as much as 25 percent by taking part in rehabilitation programs, if they are deemed a low risk to offend again. The bill would also create new programs to help prisoners successfully re-enter society.
Among the senators’ goals: Make the sentencing system more fair, reduce recidivism and contain rising prison costs.
Since 1980, the federal prison population has exploded, in part because of mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. Then, it was less than 25,000. Today, it is more than 200,000.
“This historic reform bill addresses legitimate over-incarceration concerns while targeting violent criminals and masterminds in the drug trade,” Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
The bill would eliminate mandatory life sentences for three-time, nonviolent offenders, excluding violent offenders, sex offenders, inmates convicted of terrorism charges and some others.
The package will have some momentum in the Senate. It was negotiated by some of the most powerful senators, including Grassley, and the top Democrat on the panel, Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy. Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, and Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat, were also lead negotiators.
In July, Obama became the first president to visit a federal prison while in office. He called for changes in the criminal justice system, saying a distinction had to be made between young people doing “stupid things” and violent criminals.
Obama praised the legislation, saying it “would provide a historic step forward in addressing these systemic problems .” He noted “the movement to improve our criminal justice system has surely attracted strange bedfellows” and challenged “the broad and impressive bipartisan coalition that created the bill” to do what’s necessary to “put a meaningful criminal justice reform bill on my desk before the end of this year.”
The bill would require all eligible inmates to undergo regular assessments to determine the likelihood of committing another crime. Inmates deemed to be a low risk for a repeat offense could get their prison sentences shortened by 10 days for every 30 days they participate in a rehabilitation program. These inmates could serve the last part of their sentences in community-based programs in which they would be supervised by authorities.
The bill would reduce enhanced penalties that apply to repeat drug offenders. However, the penalties would still be applied to offenders with prior convictions for violent and serious drug felonies.
The measure also limits solitary confinement for juveniles in federal custody.
Republicans backing the bill include Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who is running a longshot campaign for president.
Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, is also backing the bill, as are Democratic Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Cory Booker of New Jersey.
“All of these things are rightfully bubbling up and I am happy to see unity from everyone from the Koch brothers to folks on the left, all joining together to say ‘enough is enough,’ ” Booker said after the deal was announced.