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Issues in Criminal Justice (JF)
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The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 (H.R. 5143), which passed unanimously, will establish a commission of experts to overhaul the criminal justice system from top to bottom.
“Our justice system is clearly broken, and this commission will give us a road map for fixing it,” said Pat Nolan, vice president of Prison Fellowship and an authority on criminal justice reform. “Despite lower crime rates, the U.S. prison population continues to grow, at great expense to taxpayers. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with over two million people in prisons and jails at a cost to Federal and state governments of more than $60 billion each year.”
The bipartisan legislation, introduced by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) and co-sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), will create a blue-ribbon commission to review America’s criminal justice system and provide recommendations for reform. The commission would be comprised of experts in fields including criminal justice, law enforcement, public heath, national security, prison administration, social services, prisoner reentry and victims’ rights, and charged with identifying best practices wherever it finds them. It must issue recommendations 18 months after its creation.
The Senate version of the bill (S. 714) was passed out of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in March and was referred to the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security. Sponsored in the House by Rep. Bill Delahunt (R-MA), both versions of the bill (S. 714 and H.R. 5143) have picked up an impressive number of cosponsors.
For the past two decades, Prison Fellowship has worked hard to reform the criminal justice system, including efforts to end prison rape, give juveniles a second chance and improve the way prisoners are prepared for their release.
Following passage by the House, the legislation will return to the Senate for action. “About 50 percent of offenders are back in prison within three years of their release. That is a failure rate that we should not tolerate. The commission will give us solutions to this vexing problem that has caused the nation’s prisons to burst their seams while our neighborhoods are still unsafe,” concluded Nolan.
To find out how you can help to bring about criminal justice reform in America, visit Justice Fellowship's Get Involved: National Criminal Justice Commission Act resource page.
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