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College basketball star Len Bias died of a powder cocaine overdose while celebrating his number one draft pick in the 1986 NBA Draft. Because his death was widely, although mistakenly, thought to be due to a crack cocaine overdose, the public and the federal government responded alike -- with panic about the perceived heightened dangers of crack cocaine. This panic served to advance the national war on drugs that was already well underway.
Retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA) which became law in 2010 and reduced the sentencing disparity for crack and powder cocaine from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1 has been a hotly contested issue in the criminal justice space. The primary concern from those opposed to retroactivity, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, is that allowing offenders to petition the court for a review and reduction in their sentence could result in violent criminals being released to the streets, putting public safety at risk.
“I think the stacking issue is a problem...I would support reform of the stacking provisions somewhat like you have it in the bill today.” - Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), on the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, October 22, 2015
The Sentencing Reform Act and the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act offered several modifications to federal sentencing laws. Although these bills did not go as far as the Smarter Sentencing Act, introduced by Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), they were improvements over the status quo.
The movement to pass measures of criminal justice reform in Washington has sprung to life in the 115th Congress in recent days. In the Senate, conservative champions of the issue have reintroduced legislation that has garnered bipartisan support in past Congresses.
On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to support the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, S. 1917, introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). The bill would address overincarceration concerns in the United States federal prison system, where nearly half of prisoners are serving sentences for nonviolent drug offenses, and many of those for first-time offenses.
There’s a show from the 1980s called ALF about an alien that ends up having to live with a family after accidentally crashing into their garage. In one episode, he runs up a major gambling tab and to pay it off raises the prices on items at the family’s garage sale without their knowledge to get the money needed to pay off his debts.
Each of the three branches of the federal government was meant to be equal and serve as a check on the others. That’s what the framers of the Constitution intended when they gathered in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. They had a unique perspective on the type of government needed to protect individual freedom, having fought for independence from a tyrannical king.
FreedomWorks today praised Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) for resisting a coordinated effort by liberal groups to pressure him into holding hearings and votes on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.
A new poll surveying voters in battleground states finds broad-based support for justice reform. This comes as welcome news to the groups who have been working on this issue for the last year, providing as it does a counterargument to those lawmakers who continue to drag their feet.