Advocates Support Federal Legislation To Reduce Prison Sentences

There’s growing bipartisan support in Congress for reducing federal prison sentences for both violent and non-violent offenders, and advocates say they hope the groundswell will translate into similar reforms at the state level as well.

Two sentencing bills both introduced by Republican U.S. senators are now pending in Congress. One measure pertains to non-violent drug offenders while the other would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for a wide range of crimes.

Advocates say the bills could save billions of dollars by reducing prison populations.

Jeremy Haile, of the Sentencing Project, said the one of the bills has strong support from the new House Speaker Paul Ryan.

“He put the Smarter Sentencing Act in his Opportunity Agenda as chairman of the House Budget Committee,” Haile said. “I am very confident that the speaker, as that bill moves forward, will give it strong consideration for the floor.”

In Wisconsin, reforms seem to be going in the opposite direction. Several bills approved in the state Legislature this year have added new crimes and imposed longer sentences for gun offenses.