Criminal Justice Accountability

The U.S. Senate is holding a hearing today on Senator Jim Webb’s (D-Va.) bill, S. 714, the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009.  The bill would create a commission charged with conducting a top-to-bottom review of the nation’s criminal justice system and offering concrete recommendations for reform.
 
The hearing, entitled “Exploring the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009,” will be webcast live at 3 p.m. EST. To learn more about the hearing and to watch it, follow this link:  http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/hearing.cfm?id=3906   
 
FAMM believes the commission will find that any comprehensive reform of our criminal justice system must include eliminating mandatory minimum sentencing laws. FAMM is submitting testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs endorsing the legislation and encouraging the commission to reject one-size-fits-all sentencing.   
 
We need your help to ensure that S. 714 makes it through the next legislative hurdle, passing out of committee and going to the Senate floor. One way to encourage movement is to build Senate support for the bill and increase the number of cosponsors. Please write your senators after the hearing and thank them for cosponsoring the bill, or ask them to become cosponsors of S. 714. Click here to use FAMM’s action center to write your senators.
 
Thank you for supporting FAMM and sentencing justice.  We will update you on the status of this legislation through emails and our website, www.famm.org. 
 
Sentences that Fit. Justice that Works