WASHINGTON ― The U.S. Senate is expected to advance Monday evening a revised bill that would reduce prison sentences for some federal inmates, a major step for a nation that locks people up at a higher rate than any other country in the world. But Cotton has mocked efforts to revise what he called a “magical unicorn bill” to address his concerns. But the ACLU endorsed the Senate bill in November after lawmakers added changes to some criminal sentences ― including a provision that would allow inmates currently serving time for crack-cocaine offenses to petition courts for release. One of the worst “tough on crime” laws of the 1980s subjected crack offenses to much longer sentences than regular cocaine crimes. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), a sponsor of the House version of the reform bill, called it “a significant step toward redemption for thousands of non-violent drug offenders harshly treated by unjust crack-cocaine laws.”

Source: Huffington Post December 17, 2018 17:37 UTC