Crime
More on Crime
February 9, 2016
By Leon Neyfakh, Slate
After months of hype about the historic bipartisan consensus that we must make the American criminal justice system less harsh, President Obama finally signed a justice reform bill into law Monday. There’s only one problem: Instead of making the justice system more fair and less punitive, the new law will make it more vindictive and petty. Specifically, it will require people who have been convicted of sex crimes against minors to carry special passports in which their status as registered sex offenders will be marked with conspicuous identifying marks.
The point of International Megan’s Law,in the words of its House sponsor Chris Smith of New Jersey, is to prevent “sex tourism” by making it harder for people to “hop on planes and go to places for a week or two and abuse little children.” In addition to the passport stamp, this goal is supposed to be achieved through the formation of a new federal unit inside of Immigration and Customs Enforcement called the “Angel Watch Center,” which will inform foreign governments when American sex offenders have made plans to visit their countries.
Issues:Civil RightsCrimeJudiciary
February 1, 2016
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 515, International Megan's Law. While I support the underlying goal of ensuring that American law enforcement agencies share information on potential child sex offenders with foreign law enforcement agencies, I am opposed to how one particular provision, added in the Senate amendment before us today, would work in practice.
January 11, 2016
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from New York and the gentlewoman from Ohio for organizing tonight's Special Order to focus on the toll that gun violence has taken on communities across America and, especially, the disproportionate impact it has had within communities of color.
Tonight's conversation comes at an important time. On average, every day more than 30 people are killed by firearms, many in mass murders.
Issues:CrimeJudiciaryGun Safety
Scott: Oregon Militia Occupation Ironically Highlights What’s Wrong With Mandatory Minimum Sentences
January 5, 2016
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement on the circumstances surrounding the occupation of a federal building by a militia in eastern Oregon:
“According to press accounts, the case of Oregon ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond and the lengthy federal prison sentence they received has, in part, motivated a group to aggressively confront the federal government. While I hope that their occupation ceases immediately and ends peacefully, their actions, ironically, highlight the injustice inflicted by mandatory minimum sentencing laws. In 2012, the Hammonds were convicted under federal arson laws, which carry a five-year mandatory minimum sentence of incarceration.
Issues:Crime
January 5, 2016
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), a vice chair of the House Democratic Gun Violence Prevention Taskforce, released the following statement on President Obama’s executive actions on gun violence prevention. Congressman Scott and other members of the task force met with the President yesterday afternoon to discuss these proposals and attended the announcement at the White House today.
“I commend the President for taking action to help reduce and prevent gun violence in light of the current congressional leadership’s refusal to responsibly address this epidemic. These executive actions will ensure stronger enforcement of current laws, will reduce the number of lives lost to gun violence and will make our communities safer.
Issues:CrimeJudiciaryGun Safety
January 3, 2016
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tomorrow, Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) will join other members of the House Democratic Gun Violence Prevention Task Force for a meeting with the President at the White House to discuss the Administration’s plans to reduce gun violence. Congressman Scott, a vice chair of the House Democratic Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, issued the following statement ahead of Monday afternoon’s meeting with the President:
“Washington has a moral obligation to do something to address our nation’s gun violence epidemic. With the current leadership in Congress paralyzed to even consider bipartisan, evidence-based legislation to curb gun violence and close loopholes in the law, I am interested in learning more about the President’s proposed executive actions to address this issue and offering my own suggestions.
Issues:CrimeGun Safety
November 30, 2015
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Illinois and the gentleman from New Jersey for organizing this Special Order tonight. It takes a lot of work and a lot of time to organize these efforts, and I want to thank them both for the time and effort that they have put into this.
We have heard a lot about what the Congressional Black Caucus has done over the years. There are two areas that I have been personally involved in with the CBC effort in the areas of education and criminal justice reform. On both we have worked hard and achieved bipartisan support.
November 2, 2015
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I thank the gentlewoman for organizing this Special Order so that we can talk about many aspects of the criminal justice system.
You have asked us to talk about the militarization of communities, also what we can do to improve policing and the problem of mass incarceration. On the term of militarizing the communities, there was an amendment offered a few months ago that would have prevented the Department of Defense from giving local police departments certain military equipment.
Issues:Civil RightsCrimeJudiciary
September 20, 2015
By Bobby Scott & Scott Rigell
Bipartisanship is elusive in Washington, especially with an upcoming presidential election. But the widespread consensus behind efforts to fix our nation's broken and costly criminal justice system proves that common ground does exist.
Republicans and Democrats can agree that the driving force behind fixing our criminal justice system should be an approach that delivers the most public safety at the lowest taxpayer cost.
Along with many of our colleagues, we have been working to pass the Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Effective Justice Act. The SAFE Justice Act would implement targeted reforms to the federal sentencing and corrections system, drawing on research and empirical evidence about what truly works to change criminal behavior, protect public safety and control costs.
September 9, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representatives Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Bobby Scott (D-VA) will host a briefing tomorrow with prosecutors, police and public safety professionals on why prison and sentencing reform will make our communities safer. H.R. 2944, the Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Effective (SAFE) Justice Act was introduced earlier this summer by Representatives Sensenbrenner and Scott. The SAFE Justice Act takes a broad-based approach to improving the federal sentencing and corrections system, from front-end sentencing reform to back-end release policies. It is also the first bill that addresses the federal supervision system – ensuring that probation does a better job stopping the revolving door at federal prisons.
Issues:Civil RightsCrimeJudiciary