As the 2018 midterm elections approach, voters in all 50 states will cast their ballots for members of Congress and many will cast their ballots for senators. Some ballots will also include measures independent of the national elections. These are, for example, gubernatorial races, as well as ballot initiatives to amend state constitutions.

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.

Earlier this year, FreedomWorks released a letter of support for the Smarter Sentencing Act. The bill was introduced by unlikely pair of senators, Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and would lower but not eliminate federal mandatory minimum sentences for low-level, nonviolent offenders and expand the "safety valve" to these sentences to reduce big government's role in the courtroom.