We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE…
We reported last Friday on the House passage of the EQUAL Act. In our glee over the potential redress of the racially disparate crack-to-powder laws, we overlooked the House Judiciary Committee’s approval of the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, H.R. 3617, on a 26-15 vote.
All Democrats on the Committee supported the bill while all but two Republicans opposed it.
Among other measures, the bill removes marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, changes that “are retroactive and shall apply to any offense committed, case pending, conviction entered, and, in the case of a juvenile, any offense committed, case pending, or adjudication of juvenile delinquency entered before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act.”
The bill still has to be approved by the House, as well as facing an uphill fight in the evenly-divided Senate. There is no timeline for full House or Senate action.
Meanwhile, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), and others last week introduced the Terry Technical Correction Act, which clarifies that individuals convicted of the lowest level crack offenses before the Fair Sentencing Act passed can apply for its retroactive application under Section 404 of the First Step Act. The same bill was introduced simultaneously in the House by bipartisan cosponsors led by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX).
The bill seeks to amend the text of First Step Section 404 to make people sentenced for crack offenses prior to the passage of the Fair Sentencing Act eligible for sentence reductions even where they were sentenced under 21 USC 841(b))(1)(C), which has no mandatory minimum sentence, thereby undoing the Supreme Court’s Terry v. United States decision of last June. The bill has not yet been scheduled for a committee hearing.
House Judiciary Committee, Chairman Nadler Statement for the Markup of H.R. 3617, the MORE Act of 2021 (September 30, 2021)
H.R. 3617, MORE Act of 2021
Press Release, Senators Introduce Legislation to Correct Scotus Ruling on Retroactivity of Crack Cocaine Sentencing Reform (October 1, 2021)
House Judiciary Committee, Bipartisan Judiciary Committee Members Introduce Legislation to Clarify Retroactivity of Crack Cocaine Sentencing Reform (October 1, 2021)
– Thomas L. Root