Over the past 40 years, the American prison population has grown by 500%. Over two million Americans are currently incarcerated, and a disproportionate number are people of color. The explosion in the prison population has resulted in overcrowding, poor treatment of prisoners, and staggering costs for the public.
On October 4, 2017, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) reintroduced the bipartisan Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (S.1917) in the Senate. The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (SRCA) includes provisions that seek to address the problems of mass incarceration and over-criminalization by reducing mandatory minimums for nonviolent drug offenses and granting judges greater discretion in sentencing decisions. The legislation represents the most significant attempt at criminal justice reform in years.
The Senate should act on this bipartisan consensus and demonstrate much-needed unity around urgent reforms to the criminal justice system. The SRCA has robust bipartisan support – if your Senator is already cosponsoring the legislation, please thank them. If not, urge your Senators to cosponsor the legislation, so that we can create fairer sentencing laws, improve prison practices and encourage successful reentry for formerly incarcerated individuals across the country.