WEBB, SPECTER INTRODUCE BILL TO OVERHAUL AMERICA'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE
SYSTEM
Blue-Ribbon Commission to Offer Reforms
on Incarceration Rates, Sentencing Policies, Gang Violence, Prison
Administration & Reintegration of Offenders
Washington, DC—Senator
Jim Webb (D-VA) today introduced bipartisan legislation to create a
blue-ribbon commission charged with conducting an 18-month,
top-to-bottom review of the nation’s entire criminal justice system and
offering concrete recommendations for reform. Senator Arlen Specter
(R-PA), Ranking Member on the Judiciary Committee, is the principal
Republican cosponsor.
The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009, S.714, is the result of decades of investigation and more than two years of intensive fact-finding in the U.S. Senate. In the 110th
Congress, Webb chaired two hearings of the Joint Economic Committee
that examined various aspects of the criminal justice system. In
October of 2008, he conducted a symposium on drugs in America at George Mason University Law Center.
[For a copy of the legislation, visit: http://webb.senate.gov/email/criminaljusticereform.html]
“America’s criminal justice system has deteriorated to the point that it is a national disgrace,” said Senator Webb.
“With five percent of the world’s population, our country houses
twenty-five percent of the world’s prison population. Incarcerated drug
offenders have soared 1200% since 1980. And four times as many mentally
ill people are in prisons than in mental health hospitals. We should be
devoting precious law enforcement capabilities toward making our
communities safer. Our neighborhoods are at risk from gang violence,
including transnational gang violence.
Webb
continued: “There is great appreciation from most in this country that
we are doing something drastically wrong. And, I am gratified that
Senator Specter has joined me as the lead Republican cosponsor of this
effort. We are committed to getting this legislation passed and enacted
into law this year.”
“There
have been many commissions in recent years, but the problems which we
are now confronting warrant a fresh look,” Senator Specter said. “This
commission has the potential to really make some very significant
advances in public security and protection from the violent criminals.
I look forward to working with Senator Webb and my colleagues in the Senate on this important legislation.”
The
high-level commission created by the National Criminal Justice
Commission Act of 2009 legislation will be comprised of experts in
fields including criminal justice, law enforcement, public heath,
national security, prison administration, social services, prisoner
reentry, and victims’ rights. It will be led by a chairperson to be
appointed by the President. The Majority and Minority Leaders in the
House and Senate, and the Democratic and Republican Governors
Associations will appoint the remaining members of the commission.
Commissioners
will be tasked with proposing tangible, wide-ranging reforms designed
to responsibly reduce the overall incarceration rate; improve federal
and local responses to international and domestic gang violence;
restructure our approach to drug criminalization; improve the treatment
of mental illness; improve prison administration; and establish a
system for reintegrating ex-offenders.
In
addition to Senators Webb and Specter, original cosponsors of the
legislation include: Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Judiciary
Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Crime and Drugs Subcommittee Chairman
Richard Durbin (D-IL), Crime and Drugs Subcommittee Ranking Member
Lindsay Graham (R-SC), and Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Patty Murray
(D-WA), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ben
Cardin (D-MD), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Mark Warner (D-VA), Roland
Burris (D-IL), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).
Webb
said that he has also had encouraging discussions about the bill with
officials from the White House and Department of Justice.
Senator Webb’s interest in reforming the U.S.
criminal justice system stems from his days as a Marine Corps officer,
sitting on courts-martial, and “thinking about the interrelationship
between discipline and fairness.” Later, as an attorney, he spent six
years in pro bono representation of a young African American Marine
accused of war crimes in Vietnam, eventually clearing the man’s name three years after he took his own life.
Twenty-five
years ago, while working on special assignment for Parade Magazine,
Webb was the first American journalist allowed inside the Japanese
prison system, where he “became aware of the systemic dysfunctions of
the U.S. system.” Japan, with half of the United States’ population at that time, had only 40,000 sentenced prisoners in jail compared to the U.S.’s 580,000; today, the U.S. has 2.38 million prisoners and another five million involved in the process, either due to probation or parole situations.
“We
are not protecting our citizens from the increasing danger of criminals
who perpetrate violence and intimidation as a way of life, and we are
locking up too many people who do not belong in jail,” concluded Webb.
“I believe that American ingenuity can discover better ways to deal
with the problems of drugs and nonviolent criminal behavior while still
minimizing violent crime and large-scale gang activity.
“We all deserve to live in a country made better by such changes,” said Webb.
To review all background materials relevant to the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009, please visit: http://webb.senate.gov/email/criminaljusticereform.html.
To view a copy of Senator Webb’s cover story in this Sunday’s PARADE Magazine, visit: http://webb.senate.gov/email/incardocs/parade_jimwebb.pdf
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