TAKE ACTION IN CONGRESS: URGE YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE TO SUPPORT AND SPONSOR SMARTER SENTENCING After decades of get tough rhetoric, Republicans and Democrats in Congress are finally coming together to say “enough.” In recent months, bold leaders have come together from both parties to craft legislation to reform the way we address federal nonviolent drug offenses. The Smarter Sentencing Act, introduced with bipartisan support in both the Senate (S. 1401) and the House (H.R. 3382), takes two significant steps forward on sentencing reform. First, it reduces overly harsh penalties for drug offenses and allows judges greater flexibility in sentencing. Second, it extends the more equitable crack cocaine provisions of the Fair Sentencing Act retroactively to individuals serving prison terms under the now discredited 100-to-1 sentencing disparity – a disparity that has had a devastating impact on prison population inequity. More than 60% of the people in prison are now racial and ethnic minorities. With the Smarter Sentencing Act, lawmakers are recognizing what practitioners, advocates, and scholars have long understood: that ever increasing criminal penalties are not an effective way to keep Americans safe. Urge your elected representatives in Congress to support the Smarter Sentencing Act today.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 03:44:53 +0000
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