The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009
Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) introduced S. 714, the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009, on March 26, 2009. This legislation 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.”
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 on April 27, 2010. The bill passed the House by voice vote on July 27.
The proposal for reform is an inspired way to engage even the most cautious members of Congress in a dialogue that has the potential to create the conditions for real reform. The bill has received bipartisan support. More than one hundred organizations have been consulted and support the bill. They include such a diverse group as FAMM, the Fraternal Order of Police, the ACLU, Prison Fellowship, the American Probation and Parole Association, and the National District Attorney’s Association.
The proposal has deep roots in prior successful commissions. In the 1960s, both Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson established commissions to study issues related to drug abuse and crime. These presidential panels concluded that long prison sentences did not deter drug users, that rehabilitation should be a primary objective for the government, and that courts should have wide discretion to deal with drug criminals.
Within a few years after President Johnson’s commission issued its report, Congress passed a major anti-crime bill that implemented both of the commissions’ recommendations by emphasizing rehabilitation for drug users and providing better tools for law enforcement in the fight against drug trafficking. Most notably, the bill eliminated almost all federal mandatory minimums and replaced them with a more balanced scheme of penalties for drug crimes.
FAMM is hoping history will repeat itself. We are dedicated to this effort because we realize that any examination of criminal justice reform will necessarily include a thorough review of sentencing. After all, the use of long, mandatory sentences is one of the biggest causes of skyrocketing prison populations.
The bill is also important because it calls for both federal and state reform ideas. As FAMM’s work in many states has made clear, the lack of proportionate sentencing is a national crisis.
FAMM is a leading organization developing support and working for passage of the legislation.
- Click here to read FAMM's press release on H.R. 5143.
- 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 download FAMM's testimony in support of the Senate version of the National Criminal Justice Commission Act.