FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: April 27, 2010
Contact: media@famm.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, 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.
The Act would create a bipartisan, blue-ribbon commission to conduct a top-to-bottom review of the entire criminal justice system and offer concrete recommendations for reform within 18 months.
Jennifer Seltzer Stitt, federal legislative affairs director of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), made the following statement:
"FAMM commends House leaders for introducing this bill. The National Criminal Justice Commission Act comes at a time when support for mandatory minimum sentencing reform is high. FAMM believes arbitrary mandatory minimums, which ignore individual circumstances, undermine faith in the criminal justice system. We are eager to see these issues explored by the independent, objective, and bipartisan Commission envisioned by this legislation.”
Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) introduced S. 714, the National Criminal Commission Act, on March 26, 2009, which was passed out of Senate Judiciary Committee on January 21, 2010. The bill received widespread bipartisan support and has 37 cosponsors in the Senate, including Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Penn.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs, and Sen. Orrin G Hatch (R-Utah) Judiciary Committee member.
Families Against Mandatory Minimums is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization supporting fair and proportionate sentencing laws that allow judicial discretion while maintaining public safety. For more information on FAMM, visit http://www.famm.org/ or contact media@famm.org.