Washington (CNN) Senators of both parties on Thursday moved forward their long-odds legislation to enact some degree of reform for the federal criminal justice system.

By a vote of 16-5, and amid protests from some senators that the bill would likely face hurdles too high to pass, the Senate Judiciary Committee backed the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, a package to reduce some of the strictest federal sentencing rules along with reforms for the federal prison system.

Ahead of the vote, Chairman Chuck Grassley expressed anger with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who he called a friend, for coming out against the bill.

"I'm really irritated that he would send that letter considering the fact that he was very controversial before this committee to be attorney general, considering that most of the assistant attorney generals have been sent up here have been very controversial and difficult to get through this committee, considering the fact that the President was going to fire him last spring and I went to his defense," the Iowa Republican said. "I don't think that's something that somebody should do to friends."

Sessions wrote in a letter CNN obtained Wednesday that the Justice Department was against the bill and he warned that it would increase violent crime and hamstring federal law enforcement.

Read More</s>As expected, the lenient sentencing bill — “The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act” — pushed by a bipartisan group of Senators cleared the Judiciary Committee this week. Unexpectedly, at least to me, five Republicans voted against it, including Majority Whip John Cornyn, who sponsored the legislation two and a half years ago.

The vote was 16-5. In addition to Cornyn, Sens. Hatch, Cruz, Sasse, and Kennedy voted no. Six Republicans voted yes: Chairman Grassley and Sens. Graham, Lee, Flake, Crapo, and Tillis.

With committee Republicans this divided and the administration opposed to the bill, it seems certain that Majority Leader McConnell will not bring up the leniency legislation. I think it is dead this year, which may explain Chairman Grassley’s angry and misguided attack on Attorney General Sessions.

The defection of Cornyn had to be devastating to Team Leniency. But the Majority Whip has always been concerned primarily with prison reform — the corrections portion of the bill — not sentencing reduction. Cornyn seems to have concluded that his quest for federal prison reform is best served through stand alone legislation on the subject, rather than by inclusion in a highly controversial bill whose chances of enactment he must have thought were slim.

Cornyn is right. Indeed, the White House has expressed support for federal prison reform legislation. Here’s an opportunity for true bipartisanship.

Unfortunately, the prison reform provisions of the current bill would bring reduced sentencing in through the back door. Federal prisoners could obtain substantial reductions by participating in various rehabilitation programs.

If this loophole is closed, the remaining prison reform provisions in the soon-to-be-stalled leniency legislation will be worthy of support. Whether Democrats would support such paired down legislation is another matter. They specialize in demanding almost the whole loaf, even when in the minority.</s>Washington (CNN) Senators of both parties on Thursday moved forward their long-odds legislation to enact some degree of reform for the federal criminal justice system.

By a vote of 16-5, and amid protests from some senators that the bill would likely face hurdles too high to pass, the Senate Judiciary Committee backed the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, a package to reduce some of the strictest federal sentencing rules along with reforms for the federal prison system.

Ahead of the vote, Chairman Chuck Grassley expressed anger with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who he called a friend, for coming out against the bill.

"I'm really irritated that he would send that letter considering the fact that he was very controversial before this committee to be attorney general, considering that most of the assistant attorney generals have been sent up here have been very controversial and difficult to get through this committee, considering the fact that the President was going to fire him last spring and I went to his defense," the Iowa Republican said. "I don't think that's something that somebody should do to friends."

Sessions wrote in a letter CNN obtained Wednesday that the Justice Department was against the bill and he warned that it would increase violent crime and hamstring federal law enforcement.

"Passing this legislation to further reduce sentences for drug traffickers in the midst of the worst drug crisis in our nation's history would make it more difficult to achieve our goals and have potentially dire consequences," Sessions said.

Thursday's markup showed Grassley staking his position on a comprehensive approach, rather than moving forward the Corrections Act, which is a vehicle for prison reform without the sentencing component.

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, a Texas Republican who is one of the lawmakers backing the prison reform approach, opposed the comprehensive package and said he did not think sentencing reform would make it into law given the current political landscape.

"Call it a concession to the brevity of life," Cornyn said.

The House Judiciary Committee has similar legislation available, both sentencing reform and a bill that would reform the Federal Bureau of Prisons in the mold of several states around the nation. It is unclear when the House panel might move forward or with what approach.

Cornyn and Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island expressed skepticism a week before the committee markup that the comprehensive package would make it into law, given Sessions' express opposition.

Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said Sessions' opposition "can't be excuse for inaction," and GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said that of the two major components, "I don't see how you do one without the other."

"I am for prison reform, but I am also for reform of why people stay in jail so long," Graham said.

What the bill would do

The bill would seek to lessen the impact of mandatory minimums, legislatively enforced minimum sentences that prevent judges from setting sentences below a certain threshold. It would also move to make reforms in the Fair Sentencing Act -- a 2010 law backed by then-Sen. Sessions to reduce the disparity in sentences between crack and powder cocaine -- retroactive for some convicts, pending court approval for those people.

On the prison reform side, it would enact the provisions of the Corrections Act, which seeks to mandate that the Bureau of Prisons put in place a new approach to re-entry and anti-recidivism programs for prisoners, like education.

The powerful National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys, along with several other law enforcement groups, has come out against the bill, expressing opposition similar to Sessions'. The association claims that reducing mandatory minimums, among other sentencing provisions, would lead to an increase in violent crime.

For many advocates, the bill is an acceptable compromise to implement reforms that have struggled to make it into law for years.

Kevin Ring of Families Against Mandatory Minimums said he wanted the comprehensive package, and worried that prison reform alone would be ineffective for a range of reasons.

One of his worries, he told CNN ahead of the markup, was that if prison reform were unsuccessful or inconclusive, opponents of criminal justice reform more generally would use that as a reason not to make further changes.

"Our biggest concern is if they call this reform and it's not meaningful, that's going to harm prospects in the future," Ring said.</s>Feb. 15 (UPI) -- The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced bipartisan legislation seeking to reform the criminal justice system Thursday.

The committee voted 16 to 4 in favor of advancing the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act focused on lessening the impact of mandatory minimum prison sentences.

The bill, backed by Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, reduces mandatory minimum penalties for nonviolent repeat drug offenders, eliminates the three-strike mandatory life in prison rule and gives judges discretion to sentence certain low-level offenders below the 10-year mandatory minimum.

It also creates new mandatory minimum sentences for crimes involving interstate domestic violence providing weapons and other defense materials to prohibited countries and terrorists as well as a five-year sentencing increase for trafficking heroin laced with fentanyl.

Addressing prison reform, the bill would also enact provisions of the Corrections Act, which calls for he Bureau of Prisons to implement a new approach to re-entry and anti-recidivism programs for prisoners.

Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn of Texas co-sponsored the bill the last time it was considered by the committee in 2015, but called for Senators to vote down the bill in favor of focusing on prison reform.

"I believe, as I said last week, that's a subject upon which I think we can get a presidential signature and pass it into law," Cornyn said.

Prior to the vote Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote a letter to Grassley, obtained by CNN, stating the Department of Justice opposes the bill and warning it would increase violent crime and hamstring federal law enforcement.

"Passing this legislation to further reduce sentences for drug traffickers in the midst of the worst drug crisis in our nation's history would make it more difficult to achieve our goals and have potentially dire consequences," Sessions wrote.

Grassley expressed frustration at Sessions' comments while referring to the attorney general as a friend.

"I'm really irritated that he would send that letter considering the fact that he was very controversial before this committee to be attorney general, considering that most of the assistant attorney generals have been sent up here have been very controversial and difficult to get through this committee, considering the fact that the President was going to fire him last spring and I went to his defense," Grassley wrote. "I don't think that's something that somebody should do to friends."</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday warned the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to not approve a draft criminal sentencing reform bill that he claims would reduce sentences for “a highly dangerous cohort of criminals.”

In a letter seen by Reuters, Sessions told Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman and fellow Republican Charles Grassley that he feared passage of the legislation would be “a grave error.”

Grassley’s committee is slated to make edits to the draft bill at a hearing on Thursday, before it can be sent to the full Senate for a possible vote.

The bill, unveiled by a bipartisan group of lawmakers last fall, aims to lessen prison sentences for non-violent drug offenders and it would also do away with the three-strike mandatory life provision.

It would also give judges more discretion in how they sentence non-violent offenders.

At the same time, it would toughen sentencing in some cases by adding mandatory minimums for crimes such as interstate domestic violence and trafficking in fentanyl-laced heroin.

Sessions’ opposition to the draft bill comes as no surprise.

During his time in the Senate, he helped to kill a similar bill that was backed by many of his Republican and Democratic colleagues on the Judiciary Committee.

Since becoming attorney general a little more than a year ago, Sessions has made combating violent crime, illegal immigration and drug offenses his priority.

Last year, he issued a memorandum to all U.S. Attorneys’ offices instructing them to charge people with the highest provable offense - a move that is designed to trigger mandatory minimum sentences under laws passed in the 1980s and 1990s that critics say can wrongfully criminalize drug addicts and disproportionately affect minority communities.

He also has blamed marijuana for directly helping fuel the ongoing opioid epidemic, and earlier this year he revoked Obama-era guidance that urged federal prosecutors not to prioritize marijuana cases in states where it is legal.</s>What a difference a year makes. While in 2017 efforts to overhaul the nation's criminal justice system seemed to fizzle out completely on Capitol Hill, this year it seems to be gaining momentum – and that's in part because of the president himself.

"As America regains its strength, this opportunity must be extended to all citizens," Donald Trump said in his fist State of the Union address last month. "That is why this year we will embark on reforming our prisons to help former inmates who have served their time get a second chance."

Many political watchers were surprised Trump even mentioned the words "second chance" because he and his attorney general, Jeff Sessions – an old school southerner who has warned that relaxing stiff, unforgiving prison penalties would benefit criminals – have been focused on a tough on crime agenda.

But criminal justice reform is now moving through Capitol Hill again. On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bipartisan bill that relaxes mandatory minimum sentences for some nonviolent drug crimes on a 16-5 vote. While that effort still faces hurdles – namely opposition from Sessions himself – it's a significant step forward.

In part, the sea change seems to be because the president's son-in-law and counselor Jared Kushner is advocating for prison reform and – at least for now – he seems to have overruled Sessions

Now, a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill is seizing on this unexpected change from inside the White House. They passed the sentencing reform bill over the protests of Sessions and his Department of Justice.

"This is a wide pathway to get something done," Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) tells Rolling Stone. "I'm just really hopeful with the president's remarks, [and] with Jared Kushner's interest, that we can do something really profound in this area."

But Sessions is still seen as an impediment to the effort, and that's why there's a debate inside the GOP over whether they should narrow their approach and merely focus on a proposal to help former inmates transition back to society, or also include potentially controversial legislation revamping mandatory minimum laws, which would face tougher odds. Still, Booker says you shouldn't do one without the other, because he sees them as two sides of the same coin: One focused on the pipeline causing overflowing prisons; the other on the effort to help those prisoners rejoin their communities. "I don't believe we should do the easy. I think we should do the right, and the right would be doing front end and back end together," Booker says.

Given it's an election year, some vulnerable lawmakers won't support any reforms that would allow convicts out of prison early in an effort to appear tough on crime. That's why Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) is pushing the Prison Reform and Redemption Act.

It's aimed at stemming the nation's high recidivism rate through providing incentives to prisoners to compel them to join programs aimed at getting them ready for the outside world. Those include partnerships with educational institutions, non-profits and private companies so ex-convicts are better prepared to land a job upon release, instead of only being given a Scarlett letter when they leave prison with. That bill doesn't focus on sentencing reform, and Collins says if those provisions get added it will be tougher to get Trump to sign the bill.

"I can agree that there needs to be sentencing reform. There's stuff that we need that we can do, but the question is, what is the already possible? What is the already doable?" Collins tells Rolling Stone.

Collins is from Georgia, which in 2013 implemented similar reforms to what's in his bill, including more mentorship programs and monitoring of former convicts so they can avoid becoming a repeat offender. Other red states, like Texas and South Carolina, have also seen positive results after passing criminal justice legislation, which is why Collins says his legislation has a chance to win over both progressives and the many Tea Party-backed members of Congress.

"It's a money and a moral issue," says Collins. "It's money that we're wasting, money just housing them. But it's a moral issue that I believe that all of them have the chance to redeem themselves to actually have a second chance. So for me this is a very conservative idea."

As Collins tries to drum up support for his bill among his Republican colleagues, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is trying to build support on his side of the aisle. Like many Democrats, the Brooklyn native wants the final proposal to also include sentencing reform that would severely loosen the nation's strict mandatory minimum requirements for nonviolent offenders.

"We should still try to approach criminal justice reform in the broadest possible fashion," Jeffries tells Rolling Stone. "There is widespread support for sentencing reform and prison reform amongst the American people. And both blue states and red states have made tremendous progress in this area. There's absolutely no political reason for Congress not to tackle an issue that is not controversial and has been embraced by people on the left and the right."

Even though this week the Senate Judiciary Committee was able to overwhelmingly pass the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act over the vocal complaints of the attorney general, that bill's seen as much more controversial than the narrower proposal focused solely on stemming the nation's high recidivism rate. But Jeffries is still hoping to marry the two and send Trump a bill later this year.

"We have a mass incarceration epidemic in America," Jeffries says. "It's time for that to change. That will require both altering our sentencing laws and getting rid of things like mandatory minimums as well as making sure that people who are currently incarcerated can be successfully reincorporated back into our society."</s>WASHINGTON (CN) – The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a broad, bipartisan criminal justice reform bill, sending it on to an uncertain future before the full Senate.

The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017 reduces mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, giving judges greater discretion to take a defendant’s criminal history into account during sentencing.

The bill would allow inmates to petition courts for reconsideration of their sentence while putting in place higher penalties for crimes of domestic violence and trafficking in heroin laced with fentanyl.

The bill also provides for new programs in federal prisons designed to make it easier for inmates to reenter society after their release. Certain inmates who take advantage of the programs would be eligible for reductions in their sentences.

The Judiciary Committee sent the bill to the floor by a 16-5 vote on Thursday, first striking down an amendment from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that would have changed how the bill handles sentences for criminals with gun charges in their past and removed the bill’s retroactivity provisions.

The bill only requires courts to hand down mandatory minimum sentences to people who used a gun during a crime of violence or drug crime if they have in the past been convicted and served a sentence for a gun charge.

Cruz said he is concerned the bill would be too lenient on violent criminals, though the bill’s supporters noted courts would not automatically apply the changes retroactively, but would first need to consider a petition from the defendant and evaluate the case record as a whole.

Still, Cruz predicted the bill would not come to the floor without his amendment and promised to vote against it if it did.

“From my perspective, I would happily and enthusiastically support a bill that lessened mandatory minimums for nonviolent drug offenders, but as written I cannot in good conscience support this bill and I have real concerns that it could result in violent criminals being released from prison early who would go on to commit other crimes,” Cruz said.

A similar bill stalled in the Senate during the final year of the Obama administration, in no small part due to the efforts of Sessions, who was then a senator from Alabama. Ahead of Thursday’s meeting, Sessions sent a letter to Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chair of the Judiciary Committee and a lead sponsor of the bill, opposing the legislation.

Grassley was frustrated with Sessions’ statement, saying at Thursday’s meeting that he would not allow a member of the executive branch to dictate which legislation his committee would consider.

“He’s now attorney general and he’s charged with executing the laws that Congress passes, not interfering with the legislative process,” Grassley said. “Certainly we value input from DOJ, but if Attorney General Sessions wanted to be involved in marking up this legislation, maybe he should have quit his job as he talked about last November and be in a Republican Senate seat now held by a Democrat from Alabama.”

Grassley was also frustrated because Sessions condemned the bill even after the senator told President Trump he would not consider a new attorney general nominee at a time of rampant speculation that the president wanted to fire Sessions.

“I’m really irritated that he would send that letter, considering the fact that he was very controversial before this committee to be attorney general, considering that most of the assistant attorney generals that have been sent up here have been very controversial and difficult to get through this committee, considering the fact that the president was going to fire him last spring and I went to his defense,” Grassley said. “I don’t think that’s something that somebody should do to friends.”

Last week Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the number two Republican in the Senate, urged the committee to consider severing the sentencing reform portion of the bill from the sections directed at prison reform, saying he does not see a path forward on the legislation as written. Cornyn said the White House does not support the sentencing reform portion of the bill, but that it would be open to prison reform legislation.

Cornyn added that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would be hesitant to bring up any bill that does not have broad support within his caucus. While the sentencing reform portion of the bill does not have such support, Cornyn said the prison reform package likely would.

Cornyn voted against sending the bill to the floor on Thursday, saying he wants the committee to approve a bill that has a chance of becoming law. Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Ben Sasse, R-Neb., John Kennedy, R-La., and Cruz joined Cornyn in opposing the bill Thursday.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Grassley said he has not received assurances from McConnell that the bill will get a vote before the full Senate.

“That’s the next step, we’ve got to take it a step at a time and we have a few steps to take,” Grassley told reporters Thursday.</s>In a Feb. 14 letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, Mr. Sessions wrote that he “strongly” urges the Senate to consider the legislation’s potential ramifications.

“The legislation would reduce sentences for a highly dangerous cohorts of criminals, including repeat dangerous drug traffickers and those who use firearms and would apply retroactively to many dangerous felons, regardless of citizenship or immigration status,” Sessions wrote according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Washington Times.

The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017 was introduced in October after similar legislation failed to advance in 2015. At the time five senators opposed the bill because it would provide early release for nearly 7,000 prisoners, including some who were deemed to be career criminals.

Mr. Grassley introduced the bill that has generated support from 11 co-sponsors. The bill would broaden judges’ ability to exercise discretion in sentencing non-violent offenses, narrow the scope mandatory minimum sentences to violent crimes and serious drug offenses, end juvenile life sentences without parole and create a National Criminal Justice Commission that would make additional reform recommendations. It would also allow compassionate release for elderly and terminally ill prisoners.

The American Bar Association and some civil libertarian organizations have come out in support of the bill.

But Mr. Sessions charged the bill risks “putting the very worst criminals back into our communities.” He said that the legislation would result in members of violent drug gangs like MS-13 returning to the streets and clogging up court dockets throughout the country.

“In recent years, convicted drug traffickers and other violent criminals have received significant sentencing breaks from the federal courts and the United States Sentencing Commission,” Mr. Sessions wrote. “Passing this legislation to further reduce sentences for drug traffickers in the midst of the worst drug crisis in our nation’s history would make it more difficult to achieve our goals and have potentially dire consequences.”

The Washington Times is switching its third-party commenting system from Disqus to Spot.IM. You will need to either create an account with Spot.im or if you wish to use your Disqus account look under the Conversation for the link "Have a Disqus Account?". Please read our The Washington Times is switching its third-party commenting system from Disqus to Spot.IM. You will need to either create an account with Spot.im or if you wish to use your Disqus account look under the Conversation for the link "Have a Disqus Account?". Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.</s>WASHINGTON ― Attorney General Jeff Sessions has come out swinging against a bipartisan drug sentencing reform bill that has the support of many of his former Republican colleagues in the Senate, warning that the legislation would be a “grave error” and not allow adequate punishment for “a highly dangerous cohort of criminals.”

In a Feb. 14 letter to his former colleague Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sessions wrote that he “strongly” urged the Senate to consider the ramifications of the bill.

“In recent years, convicted drug traffickers and other violent criminals have received significant sentencing breaks from the federal courts and the United States Sentencing Commission.” Sessions wrote. “Passing this legislation to further reduce sentences for drug traffickers in the midst of the worst drug crisis in our nation’s history would make it more difficult to achieve our goals and have potentially dire consequences,”

Grassley had said the “bipartisan compromise ensures that these consequences fit their crimes by targeting violent and career criminals who prey on the innocent while giving nonviolent offenders with minimal criminal histories a better chance to become productive members of society.”

But last week, Grassley said the bill was “stuck” without support from the Trump administration.
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee backed the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, a package to reduce some of the strictest federal sentencing rules along with reforms for the federal prison system, by a vote of 16–5.