{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://jasonlewis.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=119", "Scott, Lewis Introduce Bipartisan Criminal Justice Reform Legislation", "2017-11-07", "2017", "2017-11", "Republican", "House", "MN", "Jason Lewis", "L000587", "jasonlewis.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.\u00a0\u2013 Representatives Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Jason Lewis (R-MN) introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at safely reining in the size and associated costs of the federal criminal code and prison system.\r\nH.R. 4261, the Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Effective (SAFE) Justice Act takes a broad-based approach to improving the federal sentencing and corrections system, spanning from sentencing reform to release policies.\u00a0 The legislation, which is inspired by the successes of states across the country, will break the cycle of recidivism, concentrate prison space on violent and career criminals, increase the use of evidence-based alternatives to incarceration, curtail over-criminalization, reduce crime, and save money.\r\n\u201cOur criminal justice system is badly broken and in need of major reform,\u201d stated Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA). \u201cI am pleased to introduce a state-tested, evidence-based, bipartisan bill with Congressman Lewis.\u00a0 The SAFE Justice Act implements the successful reforms from the states and restores accountability, fairness, and rationality to the federal criminal justice system.\u00a0 Most importantly, it utilizes an evidence-based approach to reduce over-criminalization and over-incarceration and reinvests the savings from these reforms into communities with prevention and early-intervention programs to improve public safety.\u201d\r\n\u201cCriminal justice reform is one of my absolute priorities,\u201d stated Rep. Jason Lewis (R-MN). \u201cThat\u2019s why I was proud to work with Congressman Bobby Scott on a Juvenile Justice bill that\u2019s already passed the House. And that\u2019s why I\u2019m glad to team up with Rep. Scott again to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans by cosponsoring the SAFE Justice Act.\u201d\r\n\u201cSince 1980, Congress usurped state and local authority by putting more than 4500 federal crimes on the books\u2014including arbitrary mandatory minimums that in some cases throw non-violent or first-time offenders in jail, leading to a vicious cycle of recidivism,\u201d continued Rep. Lewis. \u201cThere are better ways to spend Americans\u2019 tax dollars and keep our communities safe through real evidence-based initiatives that actually reduce crime by reserving costly prison space for hardened criminals. These common sense, local solutions are why the SAFE Justice Act has wide bipartisan support and I look forward to continuing my work with Rep. Scott on this vital legislation.\u201d\r\nIn the past 10 years, the federal imprisonment rate has jumped by 15 percent while the states\u2019 rate has declined 4 percent. The drop in the states\u2019 imprisonment rate, which occurred alongside sustained reductions in crime, can be attributed in large part to the more than two dozen states that have enacted comprehensive, evidence-based corrections reforms.\r\n\u201cThe principles underlying the SAFE Justice Act would increase public safety, foster human dignity, and hold the Bureau of Prisons more accountable for the billions in taxpayer money it spends,\u201d said David Safavian, the Deputy Director of the American Conservative Union Foundation.\u00a0 \u201cThese are principles on which Liberals and Conservatives can find common ground.\u201d\u00a0\r\n\u201cI strongly commend the bipartisan efforts of Congressmen Bobby Scott and Jason Lewis to introduce the SAFE Justice Act,\u201d said Hilary Shelton, Director of the NAACP\u2019s Washington Bureau, and Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Policy. \u00a0\u201cThe SAFE Justice Act adopts models that states have used to successfully cut prison costs and the prison population while reducing crime rates.\u00a0 It will effectively reform our expensive and ineffective criminal justice system by focusing mandatory minimums on drug kingpins, as Congress originally intended.\u00a0 It will reinvest prison savings into people by improving early prevention and intervention programs, prison programs, and reentry programs.\u00a0 Congress should immediately pass this bill and I urge President Trump to sign it into law.\u201d\r\nSimilar to the successful reform packages enacted in many states, the SAFE Justice Act aligns the federal prison system with the science about what works to reform criminal behavior. It reflects the growing consensus among researchers that, for many offenders, adding more months and years onto long prison terms is a high-cost, low-return approach to public safety.\u00a0 It also looks to the growing number of practices in correctional supervision that are shown to reduce recidivism.\r\n\"The SAFE Justice Act will bring long-overdue sentencing reforms that will ensure prisons are reserved for violent and career criminals. It also proposes corrections reforms designed to reduce recidivism and enhance public safety,\u201d said Jason Pye, the Vice President of Legislative Affairs at FreedomWorks. \u201cMore than 30 states -- including traditionally Republican states like Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas -- have enacted similar evidence-based reforms and seen crime rates continue to decline while also achieving budgetary savings. The SAFE Justice Act would bring the successes of the states to the federal level. We applaud Reps. Bobby Scott and Jason Lewis for reintroducing the bill, and we look forward to engaging on the bill in the days ahead.\"\r\n\u201cMandatory minimum sentences have wrecked the lives of people they were never intended to impact,\u201d said Kevin Ring, President of Families Against Mandatory Minimums. \u201cThis bill is a step in the right direction to ensuring that low-level, nonviolent drug offenders are not spending decades in prison because of bad sentencing policies.\u201d\r\n\u201cMore than 30 states have safely reduced the size and cost of incarceration by adopting evidence-based, consensus-driven sentencing and corrections reforms,\u201d said Pew Charitable Trusts. \u201cStates have adopted these reforms with wide bipartisan majorities; more than 8788 votes in favor vs just over 800 against. From Texas to Oregon to South Carolina, these states have shown that it is possible to reduce crime and incarceration at the same time. Congress can learn from these states\u2019 successes as they consider changes to the federal criminal justice system, and it is encouraging to see bipartisan support for reform in the House.\u201d\r\nThe SAFE Justice Act will:\r\n\u00d8\u00a0 Reduce recidivism by \u2013 \r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 incentivizing completion of evidence-based prison programming and activities through expanded earned time credits; \r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 implementing swift, certain, and proportionate sanctions for violations of supervision; and \r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 offering credits for compliance with the conditions of supervision. \r\n\u00d8\u00a0 Concentrate prison space on violent and career criminals by\u00a0 \u2013 \r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 focusing mandatory minimum sentences on leaders and supervisors of drug trafficking organizations; \r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 safely expanding the drug trafficking safety valve (an exception to mandatory minimums) for qualified offenders; and \r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 creating release valves for lower-risk geriatric and terminally-ill offenders. \r\n\u00d8\u00a0 Increase use of evidence-based sentencing alternatives by\u00a0 \u2013 \r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 encouraging greater use of probation and problem-solving courts for appropriate offenders; and\r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 creating a performance-incentive funding program to better align the interests of the Bureau of Prisons and U.S. Probation Offices.\u00a0 \r\n\u00d8\u00a0 Curtail overcriminalization by \u2013 \r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 requiring regulatory criminal offenses to be compiled and published for the public; \r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ensuring fiscal impact statements are attached to all future sentencing and corrections proposals; and \r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 charging the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Prisons, and the Administrative Office of the Courts with collecting key outcome performance measures. \r\n\u00d8\u00a0 Reduce crime by \u2013 \r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 investing in evidence-based crime prevention initiatives; and\r\n\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 increasing funding for community based policing and public safety initiatives.\r\nOriginal cosponsors of the SAFE Justice Act: Reps. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), Mia Love (R-UT), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA).\r\nAdditional information about the SAFE Justice Act:\r\n\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 # # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://jasonlewis.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=119"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9699119254946709, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}