Dear Mr. Kushner
It appears the recent rumblings within the political landscape of justice reform have led to a potential compromise bill in the Senate looming for September. I’ve watched various reform bills since the 1980’s and can honestly say this is the first bill even remotely close to passage. I’d like to thank you for your efforts in keeping reform in the sights of the administration but also challenge you to think outside the box of the “Right/Left Coalition”, academics and advocates inside the beltway. From a practical perspective, a Senate compromise bill must have meaningful reforms like the expansion of the safety valve provisions, making the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA) retroactive and reducing some of the more draconian mandatory minimums, especially clarifying the “stacking” in reference to 924(c). These “front end” components included in the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (S.1917) were omitted in the First Step Act (H.R.5682) which has [...]
Time to rant (Only for serious reformers)
I always wonder who writes these crime bills and the First Step Act (FSA) is no different. After reading the flavor of the week, I just need to remind myself there is no reason to get upset because it's just more beltway dysfunction. While the FSA is actually worse than most of the recent legislation, it has managed to get passed in the House. My DC union connections have assured me it is DOA in the Senate which provides some comfort. Let's hope the FSA is just one of the many other head fakes we have experienced in the past few Congresses. I'm going to do something different in this blog by providing some technical information about the bill's deficits which I recently sent to the BOP. It's a longer, technical read and will debate and/or explain the merits of the content with anyone, anytime, anywhere! The FSA makes me [...]
Right Under Our Noses – Part 2
It’s been too long since I ranted on Federal prison reform but reading the March 26, 2018, letter from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights to Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer sparked unpleasant memories and inspired me to sit down to write this little ditty! Anyone who has followed my blogs understands my frustration is often directed at what I call “The DC NGO Mafia” rather than the actual prison system itself. Tens of millions of dollars are funneled into hundreds of organizations by the public and philanthropists in the name of reform while the stark reality is there has historically been minimal federal prison reform for those efforts. Most of the financial resources solicited are allocated on organizational infrastructure such as staffing and rent rather than tangible direct prison related programs and services. Meanwhile, the answer to federal prison reform is far less complicated but practical solutions [...]
Right under our noses
Last week I attended the Smart on Crime Innovations Conference at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. While it was an informative experience of advocates preaching to the choir, I couldn’t help but feel like the movie Groundhog Day. The mantra of academia and the right left coalitions are the same while only the bill numbers have changed. For decades, we have been missing the mark in the federal justice reform conversation. Probably the most impactful presentations at the conference were from Silicon Valley and it was great to see technology companies taking an interest in re-entry. Academics and organizations have studied these issues to death for decades when the answers have always been right under our noses. Probably the most profound statement I witnessed came from John Wetzel, Secretary of the PA Department of Corrections who spoke of “human dignity” and treating the incarcerated as “people”! As always, [...]
General Inch and the half full glass!
I have been reading many stories about the recent appointment of retired General Mark Inch as the new FBOP Director. Anyone who listens to my reform mantra knows I have been calling for an outside director for over a decade. The more common group think of advocates is to sound the alarm bells in a “sky is falling” mindset with the administration's appointment of another general while I view the glass as half full! Working for decades in the trenches of our prison system, my perspective is simply different than the average reformer. I witnessed a slow deterioration in the agency since the late 1980’s related to the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984. This law which also included the Sentencing Reform Act (SRA) & The Armed Criminal Act (ACC) abolished federal parole, created the U.S. Sentencing Commission and guidelines which had a profound impact on the growth of the [...]
Lessons learned
I recently came to the realization the best way to take this blog was to periodically cover the lessons learned during my work in the trenches of the Federal justice system as an advocate, consultant and reform freak. Going forward, I will focus on prison and legislative reforms while keeping an eye on what I refer to as “The NGO Mafia” and the “private prison industrial complex”. Here are some observations and lessons learned during an action packed week in the Federal justice system. My week started out with a trip to Virginia to testify in a “Miller” re-sentencing. The Supreme Court case of Miller vs Alabama overturned mandatory Life sentences for Juveniles, and then Montgomery vs Louisiana made it retroactive. I was testifying in regards to the remarkable prison adjustment a now 34 year old had made since his confinement at the age of 15. In his adolescence he [...]