Contact: Rabiah Burks
rburks@famm.org
202.822.6700

FAMM Praises Introduction of the SAFE Justice Act of 2017

WASHINGTON – FAMM today commended U.S. Reps. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Jason Lewis (R-MN) for the introduction of the Safe, Accountable, Fair, Effective (SAFE) Justice Act of 2017. The broad bill limits the application of federal mandatory minimum sentences to the highest-level drug offenders, as Congress originally intended.

“We are grateful to Congressmen Scott and Lewis for their bold, comprehensive proposal to improve our federal sentencing and prison policies,” said Kevin Ring, president of FAMM. “States across the country are turning away from one-size-fits-all sentencing laws that tear apart families and soak taxpayers without making us any safer.”

This bill is the latest in a series of bipartisan criminal justice reform bills that have been introduced in Congress this term, including the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, introduced by U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Dick Durbin (D-IL); the Smarter Sentencing Act, introduced by Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Dick Durbin; the CORRECTIONS Act, introduced by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Mike Lee; and the Prison Reform and Redemption Act, introduced by Reps. Doug Collins (R-GA) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).

The bills, if passed, would take steps to improve federal sentencing laws and prison programming, allowing some prisoners to earn more time in halfway houses or home or community confinement, among other things. Overall, FAMM supports some provisions in all of the bills and is working with the bill sponsors to provide guidance on how each bill can be improved to protect public safety through individualized punishment and rehabilitation.

FAMM promotes commonsense sentencing and prison policies that increase public safety.

 

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