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.

The House and Senate are in session this week.

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.

Recently, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) gave a speech at the Hudson Institute in Washington, in which he offered his case against the justice reform effort in Congress led by conservatives like Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho). Apparently unaware of the efforts of more than 30 states, including several traditionally Republican states, Cotton ridiculously labeled the federal push as "criminal leniency."