Acknowledging injustice
The report was valuable ammunition in the fight to enact a "safety valve" for non-violent drug offenders. In 1993, following the House Judiciary hearings on mandatory sentences, federal lawmakers began looking for a way to address mandatory sentencing laws without completely repealing them. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) and Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) introduced legislation to exempt first-time, nonviolent offenders from mandatory minimums if they met certain strict criteria.
Known as the Sentencing Improvement Act of 1993, the safety-valve bill enjoyed bipartisan support from some of the toughest crime fighters in Congress: Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Fla.), Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), and even Rep. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
FAMM members and concerned citizens across the country sent thousands of letters and faxes to Washington in support of the safety valve, joining in a grassroots effort to insure the bill's passage and importantly, its retroactivity. Folded into the controversial Omnibus Crime Bill of 1994, the safety valve (and retroactivity) appeared to be safe as the crime bill entered the conference committee. By this time, however, bipartisan support for the entire crime package had crumbled as Republicans attacked Democrats for filling the package with "pork." On August 11, 1994, Democrats supporting the bill pushed a vote thinking they had enough votes to ensure passage. They were wrong, and negotiations on the crime package became more divisive.