releases: https://web.archive.org/web/20140301081013/http://rodneydavis.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-davis-co-sponsors-bipartisan-legislation-to-reform-criminal
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://web.archive.org/web/20140301081013/http://rodneydavis.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-davis-co-sponsors-bipartisan-legislation-to-reform-criminal | Rep. Davis Co-Sponsors Bipartisan Legislation to Reform Criminal Sentencing Laws | 2013-11-25 | 2013 | 2013-11 | Republican | House | IL | Rodney Davis | D000619 | web.archive.org | legacy | Washington, DC –U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) announced that he has signed on as an original co-sponsor to a landmark bipartisan bill to bring common sense and flexibility to federal criminal sentencing laws. The Smarter Sentencing Act would allow courts to make individualized assessments in nonviolent drug cases, ensuring that limited resources are focused on the most serious offenders, while maintaining public safety. “The number of federal mandatory sentences has doubled during the last 20 years, putting the Federal Bureau of Prisons at nearly 40 percent over capacity, and the safety of both guards and inmates at risk,” said Davis. “Congress needs to be smart and sensible when it comes to criminal sentencing and, specifically, mandatory sentences. I believe that this commonsense, bipartisan legislation accomplishes that while modernizing our drug sentencing policies and enabling judges to take an individual review of a case without putting public safety at risk.” During the past 30 years, the number of inmates in federal custody has grown by 500 percent, with nearly half of them serving sentences for drug offenses. Spending on federal incarceration has grown by more than 1100 percent. Today, it costs about $29,000 per year to house just one federal inmate. The Smarter Sentencing Act could save up to $1 billion in incarceration costs per year by providing an incremental approach that does not abolish any mandatory sentences. The Smarter Sentencing Act would do the following: Increase individualized review for certain drug sentences It would lower certain drug mandatory sentences, allowing judges to determine, based on individual circumstances, when the harshest penalties should apply (while not repealing any mandatory minimum sentences or lowering the maximum sentences for these offenses). Promote sentencing consistent with the bipartisan Fair Sentencing Act It would allow certain inmates sentenced under the pre-Fair Sentencing Act sentencing regime to petition for sentence reductions consistent with the Fair Sentencing Act and current law, while not automatically reducing a single sentence. Expand the existing federal “safety valve” The legislative “safety valve” has been effective in allowing federal judges to appropriately sentence certain non-violent drug offenders below existing mandatory minimums. This bill would modestly broaden criteria for eligibility. The Smarter Sentencing Act was introduced in the House on October 30, 2013 by U.S. Reps. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) and Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.), joined by Reps. Rodney Davis (R-Ill), Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Hakeem S. Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (D-Ga.), and Cedric L. Richmond (D-La.). It is companion legislation to S. 1401, introduced in the Senate by Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bipartisan Smarter Sentencing Act is supported by faith leaders from the National Association of Evangelicals to the United Methodist Church. It is supported by groups and individuals including: Heritage Action; Justice Fellowship of Prison Fellowship Ministries; The Council of Prison Locals, AFGE; Association of Prosecuting Attorneys; the ACLU; Grover Norquist; the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives; American Correctional Association; the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; the NAACP; the Sentencing Project; Open Society Policy Center; the American Bar Association; NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Families Against Mandatory Minimums; the Constitution Project; Drug Policy Alliance; Brennan Center for Justice; Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; and Human Rights Watch. The policies in the Smarter Sentencing Act have also been unanimously supported by the bipartisan U.S. Sentencing Commission and by more than 50 former federal judges and prosecutors. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |