“A BIG DAY FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM”
Senate Judiciary Committee Passes COVID-19 Safer Detention Act with Overwhelming Bipartisan Support
Reps. Nadler, Mace, Jeffries, Bacon, and Jackson Lee Introduce Bipartisan First Step Implementation Act
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance the COVID-19 Safer Detention Act, sponsored by Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA). The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support, with votes from Ranking Member Grassley, Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and all Democrats on the committee. Two other bills, the First Step Implementation Act and Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act, were held over with votes to be scheduled in the coming weeks. And in the House, Representatives Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Nancy Mace (R-SC), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), and Don Bacon (R-NE) introduced the First Step Implementation Act, which would build on the legacy of the landmark First Step Act. In response, Justice Action Network, the country’s largest bipartisan organization advocating for criminal justice reform at the state and federal levels, issued the following statement:
“This is a big day for criminal justice reform. The passage of the COVID-19 Safer Detention Act, coupled with the bipartisan rejection of hostile amendments, and the introduction of bipartisan legislation to build on the legacy of the First Step Act shows that criminal justice reform is still the one place where both parties can work together to deliver for the American people. This bipartisan consensus lays the groundwork for future reforms, from the First Step Implementation Act, to the EQUAL Act and more,’ said Holly Harris, President and Executive Director of the Justice Action Network. “We’d like to thank champions of justice reform on both sides of the aisle—Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member Grassley, and Senators Lee, Booker, and Tillis, and Representatives Jeffries, Mace, Jackson Lee, Nadler, and Bacon for putting people above partisanship and working together to solve our country’s most pressing problems. And we call on the Senate Judiciary Committee to swiftly move through the additional criminal justice bills.”
The COVID-19 Safer Detention Act, sponsored by Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member Grassley, and Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chris Coons (D-DE), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Roger Wicker (R-MS), expands eligibility for compassionate release and elderly home detention.
The First Step Implementation Act would allow courts to apply First Step Act’s sentencing reform provisions retroactively, broaden safety valve provisions, provide for record-sealing for nonviolent juvenile offenses, and require the Attorney General to ensure that only accurate information on criminal records is shared for employment-related purposes. Identical legislation has been introduced in the Senate, sponsored by Chairman Durbin and Ranking Member Grassley.
The EQUAL Act would eliminate the federal sentencing disparity between crack and powdered cocaine offenses, and apply that reform retroactively. It is sponsored in the Senate by Chairman Durbin, and Senators Booker and Rob Portman (R-OH), and in the House by Reps. Jeffries, Mace, Bacon, Nadler, Jackson Lee, Bobby Scott (D-VA), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Van Taylor (R-TX), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Thomas Massie (R-KY), David Trone (D-MD), Peter Meijer (R-MI), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Victoria Spartz (R-IN), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Tom Cole (R-OK), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), David Joyce (R-OH), Mondaire Jones (D-NY), Barry Moore (R-AL), Stephanie Bice (R-OK), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Dusty Johnson (R-SD), Val Demings (D-FL), and Katherine Clark (D-MA).
The Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act, sponsored by Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member Grassley, and Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Mike Lee (R-UT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) closes a loophole in federal sentencing that allows a judge to enhance a person’s sentence based on conduct for which they have been acquitted by a jury.