We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.
SENATE SHOOTS DOWN COTTON, ADOPTS CRUZ AMENDMENT, PASSES FIRST STEP
The First Step Act, now renamed the Criminal Justice Reform Act, S.756, passed the Senate last night by a vote of 87 – 12, making adoption of federal criminal justice reform virtually a done deal.
A different version passed the House (H.R.5682) earlier this year, so all that remains is to have the House either pass the Senate version, or hold a quick conference committee to work out a compromise before the bill comes to President Trump for a signature. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) previously promised quick action on anything the Senate sent over on First Step.
Before passing the measure, the Senate shot down the “poison pill” amendment offered by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and John Kennedy (R-Louisiana). That amendment would have disqualified anyone with a crime of violence (applying the very restrictive 18 USC 924(c) definition, which is of dubious constitutionality when applied in this setting) from using program credits for early release, required victim notification whenever anyone got early release, and required DOJ to track rearrests of people who got early release. The Senate broke the amendment into three pieces, all of which were defeated by close to 2-1 votes.
As well, the Senate rejected efforts by Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colorado) to add legalization of marijuana to the measure.
At the same time, the Senate adopted two amendments, one from Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), which permits faith-based groups participate in providing the recidivism-reducing programs envisioned by the bill, and another by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), which added a few specific offenses to the list of offenses excluded from early release and stripped judges of the right to make people with more than four Guidelines criminal history points eligible for the “safety valve” under 18 USC 3553(f).
The Cotton-Kennedy amendment only needed a majority to pass, but none of the three sections even came close.
Trump last night issued a statement hailing the passage of the bill. “America is the greatest Country in the world and my job is to fight for ALL citizens, even those who have made mistakes,” Trump tweeted moments after the Senate vote. “This will keep our communities safer, and provide hope and a second chance, to those who earn it. In addition to everything else, billions of dollars will be saved. I look forward to signing this into law!”
New York Times, Senate Passes Bipartisan Criminal Justice Bill (Dec. 19)
Fox News, Senate passes criminal justice reform bill, sends to House (Dec. 18)
– Thomas L. Root