Congress, Speed up Passage of Sentencing Reform Bill!
- by: Susan V
- recipient: US Congress
Last week President Obama made history by commuting, in one day, sentences of 214 people imprisoned under outdated sentencing laws, raising his total to 562. Now he’s calling on Congress to do more.
Even though the Fair Sentencing Act Obama signed in 2010 meant more equitable treatment for many, it didn’t go far enough because it wasn’t retroactive. The Leadership Conference says Congress could go farther with bipartisan sentencing reform legislation, S 2123.
FAMM says S 2123 would reduce some federal mandatory sentences and make some of those retroactive; "make the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 retroactive; expand the federal 'safety valve' exception for drug mandatory minimum sentences; and allow many federal prisoners to earn time credits for completing rehabilitative programs in prison."
Criminal defense attorney MiAngel Cody wrote in Huffington Post that “Sentencing reform is a moral imperative, particularly for the thousands of melanated bodies disproportionately over-sentenced during America’s addiction to incarceration."
Some complain that S 2123 and its companion bill don’t go far enough, but Cody says we need to start with the "expeditious decarceration of the 5000 unfairly sentenced," and perfection can come later. Sign this petition to urge Congress to speed up the passage of sentencing reform bill S 2123.
As a long-time advocate of prison and criminal justice reform, I am writing to urge Congress to move quickly on passing S 2123, which has the potential to move us closer to the goal of of a more just, non-discrminatory and merciful justice system.
[Your Comments]
The Leadership Conference CEO Wade Henderson believes that the current devisive political climate should not keep Congress from doing something to show “how Washington can help improve our country” with “real criminal justice reform that saves money, saves communities, and saves lives.”
Until it does, adds Henderson, President Obama will continue to use his executive power to grant clemency to many serving time due to “overly harsh and outdated sentences.”
Bryan Stevensen in his book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption,
wrote that “The true measure” of our character as a society “is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.”
President Obama’s Clemency Initiative may be the most important action he has taken during his almost 8 years in office, and it may turn out to be the highlight of his legacy.
I wholeheartedly support The President in his efforts to right our society’s wrongs in how it has treated the accused, the addicted, and the condemned. Therefore I, the undersigned, join him in urging Congress for swift passage of S 2123 and attemtion to further reform until we have a fair, equitable and merciful justice system in America.
[Your Name]
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