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1 L. B. Eisen & Ames Grawert, Brennan Center Support for Bipartisan Sentencing Reform Proposals 1 (2021)

handle is hein.agopinions/bcsupsenr0001 and id is 1 raw text is: BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE The Honorable Charles E. Schumer The Honorable Mitch McConnell United States Senate United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington, D.C. 20510 September 30, 2021 RE: Brennan Center Support for Bipartisan Sentencing Reform Proposals Dear Majority Leader Schumer and Minority Leader McConnell, We write on behalf of the Brennan Center for Justice to share the Center's strong support for the First Step Implementation Act (S. 1014), the COVID-19 Safer Detention Act (S. 312), and the Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act (S. 601), which represent crucial steps forward in federal sentencing reform. The Brennan Center for Justice is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that seeks to reform, revitalize, and defend the country's systems of democracy and justice. As part of that mission, we advocate for changes to federal sentencing laws and correctional practices. Working in concert with allies across the ideological spectrum, we were proud to support the First Step Act of 2018, which made progress towards a more just criminal legal system by reducing mandatory minimums for some federal drug offenses and allowing judges in some nonviolent drug cases to impose lesser sentences than otherwise required.' The First Step Act also took overdue action in making the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 retroactive, allowing for the resentencing of people whose prison terms were originally based on an unjustifiable 100:1 disparity in the sentencing of crack and powder cocaine. The First Step Act laid a strong foundation for bipartisan federal sentencing reform, and the three bills being considered by the Senate would expand on that vital work. For one, while the First Step Act reduced excessively punitive sentences for some current and future federal drug cases, it failed to apply these same standards retroactively to similar cases. The First Step Implementation Act would resolve this issue by permitting the retroactive reduction of sentences for many individuals who, but for the date of their sentencing, would have been covered by the First Step Act.3 This is a common-sense change: there is no public safety rationale for punishing people differently based on when they were sentenced. The First Step Implementation Act would also further expand judges' sentencing discretion in some drug cases, allowing them to impose a prison term beneath mandatory Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law 120 Broadway, Suite 1750 New York, NY 10271

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