SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ADVANCES CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORMS WITH BROAD, BIPARTISAN SUPPORT
The First Step Implementation Act and Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act Advance to Floor Votes, Along with the COVID-19 Safer Detention Act
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance the First Step Implementation Act and Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act, both sponsored by Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA). In response, Holly Harris, President and Executive Director of the Justice Action Network, the country’s largest bipartisan criminal justice reform organization working at the state and federal levels, issued the following statement:
“While much of Congress remains mired in partisan gridlock, criminal justice reform continues to be an area where both parties put aside their differences and pass meaningful legislation. The passage of the First Step Implementation Act and the Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act, coupled with the passage of COVID-19 Safer Detention Act two weeks ago, show that the criminal justice reform movement is alive and well,” said Harris. “It’s no surprise that these bills come from Chairman Durbin and Ranking Member Grassley, whose collaboration led to the landmark First Step Act, supported and signed into law by then-President Trump. History will smile on lawmakers like Durbin and Grassley, Sens. Mike Lee, Cory Booker, and all those who stand with them to put people above Beltway politics. We urge leaders on both sides of the aisle to rise above empty rhetoric, support these bipartisan bills and reject the Beltway status quo. The American people deserve nothing less.”
The First Step Implementation Act would allow courts to apply First Step Act’s sentencing reform provisions retroactively, broaden safety valve provisions, provide for record-sealing for nonviolent juvenile offenses, and require the Attorney General to ensure that only accurate information on criminal records is shared for employment-related purposes. Identical legislation has been introduced in the House, sponsored by Representatives Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Nancy Mace (R-SC), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), and Don Bacon (R-NE).
The Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act, sponsored by Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member Grassley, and Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Mike Lee (R-UT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) closes a loophole in federal sentencing that allows a judge to enhance a person’s sentence based on conduct for which they have been acquitted by a jury.
The COVID-19 Safer Detention Act, sponsored by Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member Grassley, and Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chris Coons (D-DE), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Roger Wicker (R-MS), expands eligibility for compassionate release and elderly home detention.
The EQUAL Act would eliminate the federal sentencing disparity between crack and powdered cocaine offenses, and apply that reform retroactively. It is sponsored in the Senate by Chairman Durbin, and Senators Booker and Rob Portman (R-OH), and in the House by Reps. Jeffries, Mace, Bacon, Nadler, Jackson Lee, Bobby Scott (D-VA), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Van Taylor (R-TX), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Thomas Massie (R-KY), David Trone (D-MD), Peter Meijer (R-MI), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Victoria Spartz (R-IN), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Tom Cole (R-OK), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), David Joyce (R-OH), Mondaire Jones (D-NY), Barry Moore (R-AL), Stephanie Bice (R-OK), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Val Demings (D-FL), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Gus Bilrakis (R-FL), and Madeleine Dean (D-PA).