Justice Update: Making Holder's Reforms Stick, House Task Force's Misplaced Intent

August 21, 2013

Making Holder's Sentencing Reforms Stick

While U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s shift in sentencing policy is certainly welcome, the initiative is purely discretionary. It can easily be halted by the next administration. Weeks before Holder’s speech, the Brennan Center sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy and ranking minority member Sen. Chuck Grassley urging passage of the 2013 Smarter Sentencing Act. The measure seeks to rationalize federal sentencing laws and would turn Holder’s words into real action. Nicole Austin-Hillery, while praising Holder, told CBS News that lasting change is still “going to take a concerted effort from both the executive and legislative branches." Inimai Chettiar wrote in US News & World Report that Holder’s speech should spur “Congress to convert words into the force of law.” Jessica Eaglin wrote in The Hill that “only Congress can permanently change today’s overly harsh, costly and counterproductive sentencing regime.” Read the Brennan Center’s recommendations to the U.S. Sentencing Commission on its 2014 priorities.

House Task Force’s Intent Could Be Misplaced

The House Judiciary Committee’s Bipartisan Task Force on Overcriminalization held its second hearing late last month. The panel is set to expire in November. Citing a study by the conservative Federalist Society, the committee noted that “the number of federal criminal offenses increased by 30 percent between 1980 and 2004. There were 452 new federal criminal offenses enacted between 2000 and 2007, averaging 56.5 new crimes per year. Over the past three decades, Congress has been averaging 500 new crimes per decade.” But so far, the task force has focused solely on the issue of criminal intent. Lauren-Brooke Eisen noted in The Hill that the panel would be wise to concentrate on more urgent needs, such as policies that have created too many crimes and overly harsh sentences, instead of philosophical debates. “There are now more than 170 mandatory minimum sentences in the federal code that sentence too harshly. Not only do these need reform, but federal action could pave the way for the states,” Eisen wrote.

Looking at the federal landscape more broadly, Andrew Cohen noted that there is “a confluence of support for criminal justice reform,” highlighting the Public Safety Enhancement Act of 2013, which would release federal prisoners who do not pose safety risks.

Sunshine Comes to California

California Gov. Jerry Brown may be winning plaudits from The New York Times for his third term in Sacramento, but the U.S. Supreme Court has a different view. Earlier this month, the Court rejected an effort by Brown to delay a court order requiring the state to release an additional 9,600 inmates from its overcrowded prisons by the end of the year. Eaglin wrote that the denial of the stay may mean the Supreme Court will choose not to review the state’s full appeal of the order. “With the Supreme Court’s rejection of Governor Brown’s petition, the Justices again demonstrate that change is coming in the context of mass incarceration,” Eaglin said.

Research Roundup

  • The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics recently released new data showing a slight decline in the national prison population for the third consecutive year. In a letter to The New York Times, however, Chettiar noted that it is premature to declare an end to mass incarceration based on data skewed toward a handful of states.
     
  • Baylor University published a study this month reporting that a privately funded faith-based re-entry program for former Minnesota inmates “reduced re-arrest by 26 percent, reconviction by 35 percent and re-imprisonment for a new felony offense by 40 percent,” saving the state as much as $3 million.
     
  • The National Council of State Legislatures put out its annual survey report on state budget and taxes. The review shows that 39 states will increase spending on corrections — the 50-state average is 2.5 percent. Spending on K-12 education will increase in 45 states — the average growth in spending is slightly less than that for corrections, 2.4 percent.

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