HB 1365: Criminal Justice Reform and Sentence Reduction Act of 2019 (Passed)

[Esteemed Jimmy]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

People's House of Representatives
Passed in the House of Representatives 9-0-0-0


[/quote]

Sponsor: Devout Centrist
House Designation: HR 1365

[Esteemed Jimmy]

HR 1365 is now on the House floor. Debate on this legislation has begun and shall last for no less than 72 hours.

[Devout Centrist]

This act will make a number of badly needed reforms in our criminal justice system. For one, this act will repeal mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines concerning possession of certain narcotics, including marijuana. This act will also eliminate cash bail and retool how bail works in Atlasia, ending a practice that harms the poor. Furthermore, it guarantees that inmates will be paid a fair wage for any work that they participate in while incarcerated.

I welcome amendments and debate on this act. I hope that most representatives will ultimately support this act.

[Mr. Reactionary]

I definitely support the merits of Section 2 but I think the time frame is unreasonable given the scale of the project.

Background:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304319804576389601079728920

https://mobile.twitter.com/CrimeADay

Additionally, I think Section 3 is more or less already law.

Under DOJ, there is Community Relations Services (community outreach and policing), Office of Justice Programs/Bureau of Justice Assistance (community policing and recidivism reduction), Office of Juvenile Justice and delinquency prevention (recidivism reduction), Parole Commission (Parole and reentry), National Institute of Justice (recidivism reduction).

The Courts themselves run Probation and Pretrial services (probation and prisoner reentry).

Basically the only unspoken for bullet point is "bail" which could itself be reformed by Congress without a new bureaucracy. In fact, a good compromise might be to consolidate the above duplicative/fragmented agencies into one single agency called the Community Division which would likely save budget money through greater efficiencies.

And in Section 7, the federal government lacks the power to require States/regions to create bureaucracies as per Printz v. US. Considering Lincoln is the only Region with a traditional cash bail system anyway, I'd say lobbying would be more effective in convincing Lincoln than an unconstitutional mandate.

[Devout Centrist]

I definitely support the merits of Section 2 but I think the time frame is unreasonable given the scale of the project.

What timeframe would you suggest? I understand that this will likely be a vast undertaking and I'm not opposed to changing the current timeframe.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Duly noted. I'll let other representatives give their input before making a decision here, but perhaps Section 3 should be deleted.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I intended this program to exist at the Federal level at the onset. I'll introduce an amendment to make this program voluntary, and clarify that the program is intended for implementation in Federal cases.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Im gonna post thjs here too ...
https://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/REFORMING_CRIMINAL_LAW_ACT

We have done 9-1 already and some of the sentencing reforms.

Overall, this is a good bill.

[Mr. Reactionary]

I definitely support the merits of Section 2 but I think the time frame is unreasonable given the scale of the project.

What timeframe would you suggest? I understand that this will likely be a vast undertaking and I'm not opposed to changing the current timeframe.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Duly noted. I'll let other representatives give their input before making a decision here, but perhaps Section 3 should be deleted.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I intended this program to exist at the Federal level at the onset. I'll introduce an amendment to make this program voluntary, and clarify that the program is intended for implementation in Federal cases.

Im not sure on a timeframe. The WSJ Article said 1 lawyer working full time for 2 years couldn't even finish it. Crime a Day has been posting 1 federal crime each day for 4 years or so and estimates to only have done like 1% of federal crimes. Its possible to meet a quicker timeframe if Congress requires multiple lawyers to work on it full time but I think any timeframe is more or less aspirational.

[Sirius_]

I think that overall this bill is quite good, although I do have a few questions/comments. I do not believe it is necessarily possible to group bail release so simply, as there are other concerns involved in bail hearings than just offender status (like the ability for the accused person to run away). Also, while I very much appreciate the efforts in section 8 to make our prison system more rehabilitative, I would like to have some clarification on what "good time credit" does. Is it a sentence reduction or something else? The bill does not currently seem to specify. As for section 3, it seems redundant, as well as 9-1.

[Devout Centrist]

I think that overall this bill is quite good, although I do have a few questions/comments. I do not believe it is necessarily possible to group bail release so simply, as there are other concerns involved in bail hearings than just offender status (like the ability for the accused person to run away).

I would be open to amending the section on cash bail. If you can specify a new amendment that includes some of the categories not included, I'd be willing to include it in the bill's text.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Good time credit is sentence reduction, full stop. By definition, it is the amount of time taken off an inmate's sentence for their good behavior or actions behind bars.

[Sirius_]

I think that overall this bill is quite good, although I do have a few questions/comments. I do not believe it is necessarily possible to group bail release so simply, as there are other concerns involved in bail hearings than just offender status (like the ability for the accused person to run away).

I would be open to amending the section on cash bail. If you can specify a new amendment that includes some of the categories not included, I'd be willing to include it in the bill's text.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Good time credit is sentence reduction, full stop. By definition, it is the amount of time taken off an inmate's sentence for their good behavior or actions behind bars.

Thank you, I'll offer an amendment tonight when I get home.

[Devout Centrist]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[/quote]

Proposing the following amendment

[Sirius_]

That amendment works for most of my concerns.

[Devout Centrist]

Can the amendment be adopted at this time?

[Esteemed Jimmy]

Devout Centrist's amendment has been adopted. The bill currently stands as:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[/quote]

[Esteemed Jimmy]

Do any other representatives have anything to add?

[Sirius_]

I propose this amendment:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[/quote]The amendment to section 6 is to allow the Pretrial Risk Assessment Service to base risk value on factors other than just criminal record and the amendment to section 7 is to remove ambiguity regarding good time credit.

[Esteemed Jimmy]

Devout Centrist, is Ninja0428's amendment friendly?

[Wikipedia delenda est]

I support this bill. Our criminal justice system is in desperate need of reform, and eliminating mandatory minimums in particular is an effective way to reduce mass incarceration.

[Devout Centrist]

Yes, this amendment is friendly

[JGibson]

I an in support of this bill for common sense reasons.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Quality legislation, DC!

[Esteemed Jimmy]

I motion for a final vote. Representatives have 24 hours for objections.

[Pragmatic Conservative]

I motion for a final vote. Representatives have 24 hours for objections.

I object I would like to introduce an amendment this afternoon.

[Esteemed Jimmy]

I motion for a final vote. Representatives have 24 hours for objections.

I object I would like to introduce an amendment this afternoon.

Withdrawing the motion.

[Pragmatic Conservative]

I propose this amendment:

You must be logged in to read this quote.