Hybrid
system of Federal Parole and Good Time Allowances:
There are now two separate
bills:
1. A Hybrid System of
Parole:
FedCURE draft legislation is pending in Rep.
Danny K. Davis' office. FedCURE is also seeking Republican support. We will post more information as it becomes
available. Please do not clog up the FedCURE discussion group, blogs and
or e-mails with redundant questions on the timing of introduction of this
bill.
2.
FedCURE Contact Congress
Campaign: "Good Time Allowances" ~ H.R. 1475 ~ The Federal Prison Work Incentive Act.
~ December
2010 ~
National
Call - to - Action on H.R. 1475
Warmest Greetings & Merry*Christmas To
All:
Ninety Percent (92%) Public
Support for H.R. 1475.
Come on everyone! Pitch in
during these waning days of the 111th Congress. We can do it!
"H.R. 1475" on the Christmas
Tree "Good Time Bill"
Everyone! Please
call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. The Switchboard
can direct you to your Congressional Representative and
Senators. Once you reach the office, you can use the talking points
below or share your own story:
MESSAGE:
I
am calling to have you cosponsor H.R. 1475, The Federal Prison Work
Incentive Act, because I am concerned that almost 211,000 people are "Endlessly"
languishing in federal prisons in the U.S. The average age is 38
years old. Most are serving long sentences, for a non-violent offense
like marijuana; the majority of whom are first time offenders. There is no
parole.
H.R. 1475 ~ Federal Prison Work
Incentive Act (Winner of the "Top 10 Ideas for Change in America for
2010") is a bill to restore the former system of good time
allowances toward service of Federal prison terms, that would increase
good time allowances from 54 days per year to 120 days per year.
H.R. 1475 allows the Federal Bureau of Prisons to maintain correctional worker staffing and help relieve overcrowding of prisons.
Just a 10% reduction in the federal prison population would save
taxpayers $1.2 billion dollars per year and release 21,000 non-violent
people from prison.
Alternatively: I urge you to introduce and pass the
Barber Amendment. To wit:
Title 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3624(b)(1) is amended as follows: by striking the number "54" in the first sentence as it
appears and inserting in lieu thereof the number "128"; and
in the same sentence, by striking "prisoner's term of
imprisonment" and inserting in lieu thereof "term
of sentence imposed." This Amendment is retroactive. [END].
.
Be
Relentless:
Keep calling until your Congressperson(s) agree to
cosponsor H.R. 1475, make an appointment to see them, if necessary
to get their support.
Note: Our new partner, POPVOX, streams realtime
results directly and only to Congressional legislative
staff.
FedCURE's H.R. 1475 Campaign: "Top 10 Ideas for Change in America"
Congratulations! It is Official:
FedCURE's Idea "H.R. 1475" is the Winner in the "Top 10 Ideas for Change in America" on Change.org.
Job Well Done! Stay Tuned!
Click on the VOTE Button to Learn More
FedCURE has put out a call for video interviews of people with cases that will
benefit from H.R. 1475. Please contact FedCURE at:
http://www.fedcure.org/contact.shtml.
FedCURE Summary: Hybrid
System of Federal Parole and Good Time Allowances:
FedCURE's "100,000 Letter Writing Campaign" produced over 25,000
letters to the United States Sentencing Commission. Albeit, not 100k, we were
heard loud and clear. Your letters worked. FedCURE was on the docket for the
United States Sentencing Commission's public hearing, held in Washington, DC, on
17 March 2009 at 4:30pm. FedCURE strongly urged the Commission to adopt
FedCURE's public comment to amend the Sentencing Guidelines to incorporate a
hybrid system of parole and good time allowances.
Sadly, on 01 May 2009, the United States Sentencing Commission released
its proposed amendments to the guidelines manual, effective 01 November 2009.
See:
http://www.ussc.gov/2009guid/20090501_Reader_Friendly_Amendments.pdf. You
should be mortified to learn that there is not one word about "parole" or "good
time allowances" throughout the 57 pages of amendments; and that there are no
reductions in sentences, whatsoever, only increases.
Congress
abandoned parole for all federal offenses committed after 01 November
1987. FedCURE co-authored the last two federal parole
bills
in the 108th and 109th Congress, with Rep. Danny Davis (D-ILL) seeking to revive
system of parole for all federal offenders. This year FedCURE drafted a
new federal parole bill for Rep. Davis and to float around to other members of
Congress who may want introduce the bill in this Congress. The bill was titled
as The Criminal Justice
Tax Relief Act of 2008 (CJTRA). The CJTRA would establish a
hybrid system if parole for all federal offenders. CJTRA is estimated to save
the taxpayers 4 to 7 billion dollars annually and 80 to 140 billion dollars over
a twenty-year period.
On 11 September 2008, FedCURE attended a meeting in the office of Rep. Danny Davis, which lasted about two hours. In attendance were Rep. Davis' point person for two bills being considered, two ex-Wardens, another Congressperson, the Chief of Staff and Chief Counsel of the U. S. Parole Commission and members and lobbyists for a number of advocacy organizations. All together there were probably twenty or so people in the room. The good time bill will get a minor language tweak and should be ready for submission late next week or early the following week. Basically it restores the old law good time statutes that were repealed (Title 18 USC Sec. 4161-4166). If passed, it would shorten prison sentences measurably for everyone but lifers. We spoke with Rep. Davis one-on-one after the meeting to convince him to introduce the parole bill now as well to keep the momentum going. He has no objection to doing this, but will not introduce it at the same time with the good time bill. Time is short because the House is supposed to adjourn at the end of September. FedCURE will be pushing to get him and his staff member to finalize the parole bill and get it introduced, but there is no guarantee this will happen. We are moving along a lot slower than we would like, but that is the way Washington works and there is little we can do about it. All in all, we are pleased that these issues are front and center on Rep. Davis' agenda and we think we can see major support develop early next year.
On 06 May 2008, FedCURE had extensive meetings with Rep. Danny K Davis (D IL)
and his key staffers. The Criminal Justice Tax Relief Act of
2008 (CJTRA) authored by FedCURE has been changed in a couple of significant
ways and will probably have a new name. For now it is
titled The Federal Release Revision Act of
2008. Without going into detail (the devil is always in the
details), suffice it to say that increased good time and parole review by the
United States Parole Commission for those given over a certain length of
sentence are the two focuses of this bill. FedCURE is very happy
at the outcome. The proposed bill will still affect each and every
inmate in some positive way.
Rep.
Davis has formed an advisory panel of a number of federal judges, a former
Deputy Attorney General, a couple of post-conviction defense counsel, key
Judiciary Committee staffers and representatives of the BOP, Parole
Commission, Probation Services and other government agencies, FedCURE
is finishing up the rewrite and will be forwarding a copy back to Rep.
Davis' staff for distribution of a highlighted talking points bulletin to the
Advisory Panel. The Panel is being asked for a twenty day
turnaround for comments at which point another rewrite will doubtlessly
take place before it is presented to House Counsel for their
dissection of the details to make sure they conform to whatever
statutory changes would have to take place in the event that the bill
passes. All of this takes time and we are aware that time is of
consequence. Rest assured we are pushing as hard as we can to get this
bill introduced as soon as possible.
On 20 April 2007 FedCURE met with the point person for Rep. Danny K. Davis of
Illinois the main sponsor of last year's federal parole bill - H.R.
3072. FedCURE also spent about one half hour with
Rep. Davis. Subsequently, FedCURE drafted a new bill titled:
The Criminal Justice Tax Relief Act of 2008 (CJTRA), which will take a
different focus. The CJTRA would establish a hybrid system of parole for all
federal offenders. The bill is estimated to save the U.S. taxpayers $4 to $7
billion dollars annualy.
The CJTRA, would, inter alia:
Reinstate the old parole statutes and make amendments thereto.
Make all offenders eligible for parole.
Increase
good time allowances.
Give
jurisdiction to the United States Parole Commission to set release dates in
accordance with applicable parole
guidelines or the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, whichever is
lowest.
Provide
for reduction in term of imprisonment of elderly offenders.
Clarify
parole procedures.
Provide
post incarceration supervision.
Apply prospectively and retroactively.
Extend the life of the United States Parole Commission for
twenty years.
Federal Re-entry - The Second Chance Act of 2007 - Public Law No:
110-199:
The
Second Chance Act of 2007 - was signed into law by President Bush on 09
April 2008.
The bill was introduced in the 110th Congress on 20 March
2007 as H.R. 1593. Just a
week after the re-introduction of the bill, 28 March 2007, members of the House
Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 1593 out of committee. During
the mark-up of the bill, members voted down several amendments that would have
jeopardized the bipartisan support for the bill. Sen. Bidden introduced
S. 1060,
an identical bill, in the Senate on 29 March 2007. On 02
August 2007 the Senate Judiciary
Committee passed out the Second Chance Act. Unanimously. The Second Chance
Act passed in the Senate, late Tuesday night (11 March 2008) and awaits the
signature of President Bush before it can become law. The U.S. House of
Representatives voted 347 to 62 to pass the Second Chance Act on 13 November
2007. The bipartisan bill was passed by voice vote, last night, after the Senate
adopted a concurrent resolution (H Con Res 270) that made minor changes to the
Second Chance Act, including limiting the federal share of project costs for
some reentry programs.
FedCURE called on President George Bush to sign the
Second Chance Act in to law at his earliest convenience. During his State of the
Union address in 2004, the president coined "America is the land of second
chance, and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a
better life." He announced a proposal that would make $300 million in grant
money available over four years for prisoner reentry initiatives, including
those involving faith-based groups. The President is to be thanked for getting
the ball rolling.
The President signed the Second Chance Act on 09 April
2008 at the White House as Public Law No: 110-199.
Gene Guerrero, Director of The Open Society
Institute/Open Society Policy Center (SOROS) is the lead lobbying effort behind
this legislation.
Congratulations to Rep. Danny K. Davis, D-Ill., the lead
sponsor of The Second Chance Act (H.R. 1593) and Joseph R. Biden, Jr., D-Del.,
the lead sponsor of a companion Senate measure S.1060.
13
November 2007
Congratulations America! H.R. 1593 - The
Second Chance Act, Passes the U.S. House 347 to
62.
Congratulations, each and
every one of you, for your hard work and perserverieance in supporting H.R.
1593 - The Second Chance Act. The Bill was passed by a roll call vote
during the evening House Session today, 13 November 2007, @ 7:14
PM-EST. The vote was 347 YEA and 62 NAY. Onward to the great
Senate!
America
is the land of second chance. What a wonderful opportunity
this is for America to become a model for all the world to
follow. A world of second chance. Jonathan Harsch of
Kimmitt Senter Coates & Weinfurter, Inc., reporting from DC on
behalf of FedCURE, sums it up best in his statement
below:
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 10:11
PM
"We are proud see this truly bipartisan legislation pass the
U.S. House of Representatives with such strong support. H.R. 1593 is a bill
that benefits all Americans because it reinforces the fundamental fairness and
moral foundation on which our system of justice was
built."
Jonathan Harsch, Kimmitt Senter Coates &
Weinfurter, Inc.
Also, please
find below a "Media Alert" and note of congratulations from the
office of Rep. Danny K. Davis (ILL), the author of the bill. Great job
Danny! That's why you get the big bucks.
Ps. We would remind all that prisoner re-entry
is among one of the President's initiatives. The President, "We know
from long experience that if they can't find work, or a home, or help, they are
much more likely to commit crime and return to
prison....Americaisthelandofsecondchance ... " This is truly a bipartisan
bill.
Thank You
All:
Mark A. Varca,
J.D., CIO & Executive Director, FedCURE
From the Office of
Congressman Danny K. Davis (ILL)
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 7:32
PM
Subject: MEDIA ALERT: TOMORROW'S PRESS
CONFERENCE
347 YEA AND 62 NAY
GOOD EVENING
EVERYONE,
ON THE BEHALF OF DANNY K. DAVIS, THANK YOU FOR
YOUR HARD WORK AND CONTINUED SUPPORT, IT PAID OFF!
Attached,
please find the "Media Alert" for tomorrow's press
conference.
Helen Mitchell,
MPA Director of Strategic Planning & Policy Development Office of
Congressman Danny K. Davis 2159 Rayburn House Office
Building Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-5006 Fax: (202)
225-5641 www.house.gov/davis
The Second Chance Act of
2007 authorizes $192 million annually and would:
Reauthorizes
and makes improvements to existing State and local government offender reentry
program.The bill authorizes $50 million
annually for the Department of Justice, State and local grant program,
increasing authorization levels, incorporating best practices from the reentry
field, and requiring the measuring and reporting of performance
outcomes.
Authorizes new competitive grants for innovative
programs to reduce recidivism.The bill authorizes $130 million each
year in grants for State and local governments and public and private entities
to develop and implement comprehensive substance abuse treatment programs,
academic and vocational education programs, and housing and job counseling
programs, and mentoring for offenders who are approaching release and who have
been released.The bill requires
grantees to establish performance goals and benchmarks and report performance
outcomes to Congress.
Strengthens the Bureau of Prisons ability to provide
reentry services to federal prisoners.The bill
authorizes funds to improve federal offender reentry services and to establish
an elderly non-violent offender pilot program.
Authorizes grants
for research and best practices.The bill authorizes additional funds
for research on innovative drug treatment methods, causes of recidivism, and
methods to improve education and vocational training during incarceration and
for the development of best practices.
If you are interested in working with FedCURE or collaborating in
some manner and would like to discuss this in more detail, please do not
hesitate to contact us.
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