WASHINGTON – Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee
voted to advance two bipartisan criminal justice reform bills authored by U.S.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chair of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the
Senate Judiciary Committee —the
Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct
Act of 2021 and the
First Step Implementation Act of 2021. These
bills will build on the landmark
First
Step Act and continue Congress’s bipartisan efforts to make our
criminal justice system fairer.
“The Judiciary Committee today took an important
step to build upon our criminal justice reform progress from 2018 and to ensure
that the law is fully and safely implemented. Today’s bills prevent offenders
from being sentenced for conduct for which they have been acquitted and
respects the rights of victims to testify at trials. They’re the product of
much deliberation, and I applaud the committee’s actions to advance them to the
full Senate. I’ll continue working with my colleagues to improve fairness in
the criminal justice system, fight violent crime and provide victims a
meaningful opportunity to be heard,” Grassley said.
“The Senate Judiciary Committee has a responsibility
to address inequities in our criminal justice system and these two bills
contribute to that effort. I look forward to building on the reforms of
the landmark First Step Act by working across the aisle to enact these
bills into law,” Durbin said.
The bipartisan, bicameral
Prohibiting Punishment
of Acquitted Conduct Act of 2021 would end the unjust practice of judges
increasing sentences based on conduct for which a defendant has been acquitted
by a jury. Our criminal justice system rests on the Fifth and Sixth
Amendment guarantees of due process and the right to a jury trial for the
criminally accused. These principles require the government to prove a
defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury. Under the
Constitution, defendants may be convicted only for conduct proven beyond a
reasonable doubt. However, at sentencing, courts may enhance
sentences if they find, by a preponderance of the evidence, that a defendant
committed other crimes. The difference in those standards of proof means
that a sentencing court can effectively nullify a jury’s verdict by considering
acquitted conduct. The legislation was passed out of Committee by a
bipartisan vote of 16-6. More information on the
Prohibiting
Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act of 2021 can be found
here.
The bipartisan, bicameral
First Step
Implementation Act would advance the goals of the landmark First Step Act
(FSA), by, among other provisions, making eligible for retroactive review
some of the FSA’s sentencing reforms. The FSA – authored by Durbin and Grassley
and signed into law in 2018 – is bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation
designed to make our justice system fairer and our communities safer by
reforming sentencing laws and providing opportunities for those who are
incarcerated to prepare to reenter society successfully. The First Step
Implementation Act was passed out of Committee by a bipartisan vote of
13-9. More information on how the
First Step Implementation Act of
2021 would further the goals of the FSA can be found
here.
Last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee
voted
to advance the bipartisan
COVID-19 Safer Detention Act of 2021, authored
by Durbin and Grassley.
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