Justice For All - Feb 2015

On behalf of FreedomWorks’ activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and senators and ask them to cosponsor the Eliminating Discrimination and Creating Corridors to Expand Student Success (ED ACCESS) Act, H.R. 4518 and S. 2553. Introduced by Reps. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) and Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the ED ACCESS Act would strike the language in current law that prohibits any person with a drug felony conviction from being eligible for the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC).

On behalf of FreedomWorks’ activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to cosponsor the Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act, S. 2566. Introduced by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and cosponsored by Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act would prohibit the practice of federal judges increasing sentences for charges for which the defendant has been acquitted.

In the wake of the federal prison and sentencing reform legislation, the First Step Act, states that have not yet embarked on criminal justice reform as well as states whose reforms served as models for the federal legislation have moved in their 2019 legislative sessions to contribute to the momentum behind the shift toward smart-on-crime policies.

FreedomWorks sent a coalition letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp urging him to support the reauthorization of the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform. The text of the letter and signers are below and a PDF of the letter can be found here.

On behalf of FreedomWorks’ activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to cosponsor the Deterring Undue Enforcement by Protecting Rights of Citizens from Excessive Searches and Seizures (DUE PROCESS) Act, H.R. 2835. Introduced by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), the DUE PROCESS Act would reform federal civil asset forfeiture laws to, among other substantive reforms, increase the evidentiary standard, shift the burden of proof to the government, and provide counsel to those unable to afford legal representation.

Last week, the Senate very quietly passed the Taxpayer First Act, H.R. 3151. The bill, which now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature, seeks to improve customer service and better assist taxpayer appeals. The bill included other provisions, however, that seek to rein in the Internal Revenue Services abuse of civil asset forfeiture laws.