We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

SUPERVISED RELEASE BILL INTRODUCED IN SENATE AND HOUSE

The government may only now be reopening, but the business of Congress has ground on nonetheless. Last week, the Safer Supervision Act – intended to clean up supervised release – was introduced simultaneously in the Senate (S. 3077) and the House (H.R. 5883).

The bills would lock in some changes to the Guidelines that just became effective at the beginning of this month – such as guiding the courts to impose supervised release only on defendants who need it – and creating a presumption that supervised release should terminate early unless there’s a compelling reason to continue it. Beyond that, the bill would make appointed counsel available to people seeking early termination and let courts overlook minor supervised release R violations such as drug possession and use.

Sen Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Senate version and Representative Laurel Lee (R-FL) – no relation to the Senator – introduced the House bill. Both bills have Democrat co-sponsors.

About 110,000 people are currently on federal supervised release, about 70% of the total BOP population. Probation officers can have caseloads of over 100 people. The Administrative Office of U.S. Courts has explained that “excessive correctional intervention for low-risk defendants may increase the probability of recidivism by disrupting prosocial activities and exposing defendants to antisocial associates.”

This is not the Safer Supervision Act’s first rodeo. The same bill was introduced in the Senate in 2022 (117^th Congress) and in both the Senate and House in 2023 (118^th Congress), but did not come up for a vote before those Congresses ended.

The current version is supported by both law enforcement and prison reform groups, including the Conservative Political Action Conference, Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, Major Cities Chiefs Association, National District Attorneys Association, Right on Crime, Americans for Prosperity, Faith and Freedom, Prison Fellowship, R Street Institute, Texas Public Policy Foundation, and REFORM. The measure has been introduced early enough in the life of the current Congress, which does not end until January 2, 2027, that it may stand a chance of passage.

S. 3077, Safer Supervision Act

H.R. 5883, Safer Supervision Act

Reason, Federal Supervised Release Is a Wasteful Mess. A Bipartisan Bill in Congress Is Trying To Fix That. (June 4, 2024)

~ Thomas L. Root