Politico: As police reform talks sputter, bipartisan criminal justice bills advance

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Holly Harris, president and executive director of the Justice Action Network, described the Senate Judiciary Committee as the “most difficult platform for bipartisanship in all of politics” but predicted that “a lot of these lawmakers are going to be reminded of the really positive narrative that surrounded the bipartisan cooperation involved in development” of the 2018 law. 

So far, the Senate Judiciary Committee has approved three bills co-sponsored by Durbin and Grassley.

The first would give inmates the ability to petition for the sentencing changes established in 2018 to apply retroactively, among other provisions. The second would prohibit a judge from considering any conduct for which a defendant was acquitted in sentencing. Finally, the third would expand eligibility for a program that allows elderly prisoners to serve out the remainder of their sentences at home. That measure also includes a provision that would allow vulnerability to Covid-19 to qualify as a reason for compassionate release.

But criminal justice reform advocates are pushing for the inclusion of more provisions in a larger package, especially legislation that would eliminate the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses. The Biden administration recently backed the bill, and Durbin's committee held a hearing on it last month that featured GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson (Ark.), a former Drug Enforcement Administration chief, and Matthew Charles, the first person released from prison after the First Step Act passed in 2018.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/01/democrats-eager-replicate-trump-achievement-497276