Washington, DC (Oct. 8, 2015) – Earlier today, several leaders and members of the House Judiciary Committee from both parties introduced The Sentencing Reform Act of 2015, a summary of which was provided here. This legislation comes on the heels of the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act introduced last week in the U.S. Senate.
The House bill, while modest in its scope, would help reduce the impact of current mandatory minimums by excluding more low-level offenders from their application and by reducing some of the harshest mandatory minimums. At the same time, though, it expands the reach of certain mandatory minimums.
"We welcome the progress and bipartisan acknowledgment of the need for criminal justice reform that this legislation represents," said National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) President E.G. "Gerry" Morris. "That said, as with the legislation introduced in the Senate last week, we regret that the bill does not eliminate or significantly reduce all mandatory minimums for more offenses. NACDL's long-standing and well-supported position is that mandatory minimums are bad policy for all crimes."
Contacts
Ivan J. Dominguez, NACDL Director of Public Affairs & Communications, (202) 465-7662 or idominguez@nacdl.org for more information.
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.