Federal Sentencing Guidelines and The SAFE Justice Act

The Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Effective (SAFE) Justice Act of 2015 is the result of bi-partisan concern over the US prison population and federal sentencing guidelines. With more than 2.2 million adults behind bars, the incarceration rate is many times higher than every other developed country. Slightly fewer than 10% of the imprisoned are federal inmates; however, with almost 50% of those federal convictions being drug offenses. As the bill includes “procedures to reduce pretrial detention” and measures to reduce the number of wrongful convictions but is mainly focused on sentencing guidelines, probation rather than imprisonment for non-violent offenses, and a special focus on making federal drug mandatory minimums apply only to “managers, supervisors, organizers, and leaders of drug trafficking organizations,” it may have a significant effect on the 100,000 drug offenders in Bureau of Prisons custody.

As of this writing, there has been no movement on the bill since July 9, 2015, when the House Judiciary Committee referred it to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations. Only time will tell what the future of this legislation will be, as similar legislation has seen some resistance in the Senate earlier in the year. The bi-partisan support is promising in both houses, with Republican and Democrat senators negotiating with the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee. With support from both the President and influential conservative donors, legislators have expressed optimism that the bill will move forward. It is based largely on criminal justice reforms at the state level. While state prison populations have declined in the last decade, federal prison populations have grown by as much as 15%. The Obama administration’s motivation is largely based on his promise to reduce prison sentences for non-violent offenses and some sources claim that conservative and Republican support is largely founded on the estimated $30,000 each prisoner costs annually. These concerns are balanced against the ubiquitous but intangible “tough on crime” voter stance. However, since 60% of inmates are black or Hispanic, recent events involving racial equality may tip the scales in favor of reform.