S. 714

The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009

March 26, Senator James Webb (D-Va.) introduced S. 714, the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009, legislation that would create a blue-ribbon commission charged with conducting an 18-month, top-to-bottom review of the nation’s entire criminal justice system and offering concrete recommendations for reform. The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 creates a commission whose 14 members would be appointed by the legislative and executive branch. 

The Commission is charged with making “findings regarding such review and recommendations for changes in oversight, policies, practices, and laws designed to prevent, deter, and reduce crime and violence, improve cost-effectiveness, and ensure the interests of justice at every step of the criminal justice system.”

In a statement on the legislation, the principal Republican cosponsor of the bill, Senator Arlen Specter (R-Penn.), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, outlined the outcomes he hopes to see from the commission, including the proper role of incarceration as a means to achieve accountability and public security.

U.S. Reps. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.), Darrel Issa (R-Calif.), Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) and Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, introduced H.R. 5143, the House version of the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2010. 

FAMM is a leading organization developing support and working for passage of the legislation.

• On January 21, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill out of Committee. To read FAMM’s press release, click here.
•  Click here to read the bill, view cosponsors and take action on S. 714.
• Click here to read FAMM's press release on H.R. 5143.