December 3, 2015 It Appears that Federal Sentencing Reform has Been Delayed by the House and Senate

December 03, 2015

We have been closely following the federal Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act currently in the U.S. Senate along with its companion bill in the House of Representatives. We, like countless others, were hoping the bill would be on the President’s desk by the end of the year as federal prison and sentencing reform is long overdue. However, and as we have been warning many of our clients and members of the media, there is no telling what kind of amendments and riders various lawmakers would try to attach to the respective bills that could delay or prevent the passage of these much needed federal sentence reform bills. We have recently learned that the proposal of certain changes by Republican lawmakers—which have little to do with sentencing reform—– has bogged down the negotiations. Although President Obama had a recent meeting with Senate Leadership about the bills, it appears little progress has been made. Senator Durban (D. IL) who co-authored the Senate bill, stated that after the meeting “we have a good chance” of passing legislation in early 2016, so lawmakers can work out their differences “and send it to the president before midpoint of next year.”

In other words, no significant change to the federal prison system or federal sentencing will occur until at least midway through 2016. Of course if you have any questions about this or any federal sentencing matter feel free to email or call 615-696-6153.