There is a lot to complain about in the U.S. criminal justice system. And many of those complaints (mass incarceration, mandatory minimums, etc.) have a whole lot to do with over-criminalization in general. To that end, the House Judiciary Committee has created a task force to look at over-criminalization at the federal level and issue recommendations.
According to the Huffington Post, the task force will be looking at the estimated 4,500 federal criminal laws on the books, determining what is unnecessary, counter-productive, and outdated. Some are hoping the task force will focus on drug offenses—a major drain on the system and communities across the nation.
“It’s my understanding that every issue is on the table, and this will be a really robust, bipartisan effort to take a look at the federal criminal code” said taskforce member Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) “I assume that as part of our comprehensive analysis, we will examine the drug laws in this country.”
Several members of the task force support more progressive drug laws. According to Reason.com, Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) both cosponsored marijuana reform bills and will also likely want to address drug crimes. Other taskforce members, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Thomas Massie (R.-Ky.) will want to address mandatory minimums, as they are cosponsors of the Justice Safety Valve Act. Finally, Rep. Karen Bass (D-Ca.) supports completely ending the federal prohibition of marijuana and the Federal Prison Bureau Nonviolent Offender Relief Act.
But, before we get all excited about what sweeping changes this crew might make, we need to take a look at other members. As Reason reports, not everyone on the taskforce sees harsh penalties for nonviolent crimes as a problem.
Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wi.), for example, opposed federal dollars for clean needle exchanges opposed medical marijuana in the district. He also introduced what’s referred to as the “borderline-insane” Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act in 2005 that proposed such things as a mandatory minimum five year sentence to anyone who gave a joint to someone who had ever been in drug treatment, or ten years for mothers who commit drug crimes after treatment.
Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) and Rept. George Holding (R-N.C.) are both staunch advocates of harsh sentences. When Holding left Eastern North Carolina, for instance, the sentences for drug traffickers in that region of the state was twice the national average.
In other words, this task force may be set up and equally yoked to do exactly nothing.
We can hope, however, that getting in there and doing the work together, with agencies like Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) looking over their shoulders, will lend some common sense to the taskforce members. Perhaps those who have historically opposed lighter sentences or marijuana reform will begin to see what a drain the War on Drugs is, both to the federal budget, the communities it impacts, and the sense of trust between the lawmakers and the people who put them in office.
About David Matson