We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.
SENATOR BOOKER INTRODUCES DOA ‘NEXT STEP” ACT
Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) last week announced he is introducing a criminal justice reform measure he calls the Next Step Act. The bill, which pretty much is dead on arrival, would
• reduce nonviolent drug offenses mandatory minimums under 21 USC 841(b)(1), with the 20-year minimum falling to 10 years, the 10-year mandatory minimum to 5 years, and the 5-year mandatory minimum to 2 years;
• Eliminate the 18:1 disparity between crack and powder cocaine;
• End the federal prohibition on marijuana; and
• Remove barriers for people with criminal convictions to receiving an occupational license for jobs, such as hair dressers and taxi drivers.
Sen. Booker said, “The Next Step Act is an effort to build upon the momentum of the First Step Act, which was signed into law late last year and which represents the biggest overhaul to the criminal justice system in a decade.”
Ohio State law professor Doug Berman observed in his Sentencing Law and Policy blog, “I would be quite excited by a number of the substantive provisions in this bill if it had any chance of moving forward in any form. But, for a host of political and practical reasons, this bill really serves more as Senator Booker’s statement of aspirations rather than as a serious attempt to get something specific passed by Congress in the coming months.”
Translation: The Next Step Act is never going to see a vote, much less be passed.
That leaves the First Step Act, which may not have quite the “momentum” Sen. Booker said it does. However, last week newly-confirmed Attorney General William P. Barr promised a full-throated implementation of First Step despite his prior opposition to the bill. “I am committed to implementing the First Step Act,” he told the National Association of Attorneys General.
Good thing, too, because he has a lot to do. As #cut50 director Jessica Jackson noted last week in The Hill, because of the government shutdown and lack of an Attorney General, the first deadline laid out in First Step passed without action almost two months ago. By Jan. 21, the Dept. of Justice was supposed to have formed a committee to work with the BOP to create the risk assessment system needed before the BOP can offer earned time credits for program completion. The Review Committee, which First Step directs to adopt the risk system by July 19, has not yet been formed.
Jackson called on the AG to nominate a permanent director of the BOP and “establish a credible and committed leader to steer the Bureau into a better future… With a new leader at the helm, the BOP must be transparent and accountable to Congress. The department will need to work closely with the Office of Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office to implement and report on the multitude of provisions laid out in the First Step Act.”
Press release, Booker, Watson Coleman Introduce Far-Reaching Criminal Justice Legislation: The Next Step Act
Washington Times, Attorney General William Barr reaffirms commitment to criminal justice reform (Mar. 4)
The Hill, 3 more steps to make ‘First Step Act’ work (Mar. 7)
Sentencing Law and Policy, Senator (and Prez candidate) Cory Booker introduces “Next Step Act of 2019” with wide array of sentencing and criminal justice reforms (Mar. 8)
– Thomas L. Root