Judiciary
More on Judiciary
June 25, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Two years after beginning an intensive, comprehensive review of the federal criminal justice system as the leaders of the Over-Criminalization Task Force, Representatives Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Bobby Scott (D-VA) today introduced bipartisan, state-tested legislation aimed at safely reining in the size and associated costs of the federal criminal code and prison system.
The Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Effective (SAFE) Justice Act of 2015 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 Rights
June 23, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, June 25th, Representatives Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Bobby Scott (D-VA) will announce the introduction of the Safe, Accountable, Fair, and Effective (SAFE) Justice Act of 2015. Representatives Sensenbrenner and Scott led the House Judiciary Committee’s Over-criminalization Task Force during the 113th Congress. The task force was charged with assessing the entire federal criminal justice system and making recommendations for improvements. Over the course of 18 months, the task force held ten hearings and heard testimony from numerous stakeholders, including experts in the federal, academic, and nonprofit sectors.
June 2, 2015
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Chair, this amendment that I am offering today would repurpose just 1 percent of the funding for the Federal prison system and restore funding for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Madam Chair, the underlying bill zeros out both title II formula grants and title V discretionary grants for prevention and early intervention programs, which were funded last year at approximately $70 million. To ensure that our State juvenile justice systems are not irreparably damaged, this amendment would take just 1 percent away from our Federal prison systems, approximately $70 million, to maintain our commitment to prevention and early intervention.
Issues:Civil RightsFederal Budget
May 21, 2015
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 75th Anniversary of the Old Dominion Bar Association (ODBA), of which I am proud to be a member. Members will be gathering next week in Glen Allen, Virginia for their annual conference and to celebrate this historic milestone.
The ODBA traces its history to a December 1940 incident where an African American lawyer was asked to move to another section of the law library of the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Frederic Charles Carter, Esq. was working in the law library when he was ordered to move to another section because of an alleged new Supreme Court policy limiting African American attorneys to a specific section of the law library. Carter refused to move and the head librarian summoned a police officer to demand Carter see him in his office.
Issues:Civil Rights
April 29, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) met with William Sabol, Ph.D., Director of the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), on the measures that BJS is taking to implement the reauthorization of the Death in Custody Reporting Act, which was signed into law by President Obama on December 18, 2014. The Death in Custody Reporting Act requires federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to report deaths of individuals that occur in their custody or during the course of an arrest. It is the only post-Ferguson federal legislation to be enacted by Congress to date.
Congressman Scott issued the following statement in response to yesterday’s briefing with Director Sabol and other officials from the Department of Justice:
Issues:Civil Rights
March 26, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) applauded the release of a new Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center brief analyzing data from states that have employed a Justice Reinvestment approach. The brief, “Examining the Changing Racial Composition of Three States’ Prison Populations,” examined data from Georgia, Connecticut, and North Carolina and found subsequent drops in prison admissions and prison populations, which were especially pronounced among minority populations.
The Justice Reinvestment Initiative provides federal grants to allow states to conduct comprehensive, data-driven analyses of their criminal justice systems and adopt smart, evidence-based policies designed to reduce corrections spending and increase public safety.
Issues:Civil Rights
March 5, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) and Congressman Trey Gowdy (SC-04) introduced H.R. 1251, the Federal Defender Ex-Officio Act in the House of Representatives.
This bill would add a non-voting Federal Defender representative to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Currently, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has two non-voting representatives, but the Federal Defenders lack even one, despite the sizable number of defendants in federal criminal proceedings represented by Federal Public Defender organizations.
Issues:Civil Rights
March 4, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) introduced several bills targeted at improving the nation’s broken criminal justice system. “The bills I introduced today would make targeted but much needed improvements to our criminal justice system,” Scott stated. “For example, making the Fair Sentencing Act retroactive is just commonsense. There is absolutely no reason that individuals sentenced under the old crack cocaine sentencing laws should not be able to petition a court, which can conduct case-by-case determinations that it is in the interest of public safety, to grant the benefit of reductions enacted pursuant to the Fair Sentencing Act. Research has demonstrated that treating crack more severely than powder cocaine is not based upon any scientific or otherwise empirical evidence of increased dangerousness to the user or to the community. It is time Congress does away with this discriminatory disparity once and for all.
Issues:Civil Rights