Judiciary
More on Judiciary
July 29, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced a Senate version of H.R. 3361, the USA FREEDOM Act, which ends domestic bulk collection and reforms the government’s surveillance of United States citizens. On May 22, 2014, the House of Representatives passed the USA FREEDOM Act by a vote of 302-121. Senator Leahy’s version of the bill includes a new definition of “specific selection term” that addresses many of the concerns aimed at the House-passed compromise legislation.
“Senator Leahy’s introduction of the USA FREEDOM Act reinforces our commitment to protecting the civil liberties and rights of all Americans.
July 28, 2014
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the passage of S. 1799, the Victims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act of 2013.
This bill passed the Senate last month and provides important services and funding to protect and heal the most vulnerable of all crime victims: our children.
During their participation in the Federal criminal justice system, it will provide and improve the resources available to assist children who are victims of crime. Child victims will be supported through this often lengthy and difficult process by designated victims' coordinators, specialists, and advocates.
Issues:Civil RightsCrimeJudiciary
July 23, 2014
Washington Post Editorial Board endorses Smarter Sentencing Act, introduced by Reps. Bobby Scott and Raul Labrador.
LIBERALS AND conservatives have learned from the drug war’s failures. More jail time may result in less crime, but the costs can be too high. Harsh punishments often catch street-corner dealers, not drug kingpins. The drug war’s foremost legacy is a skyrocketing prison population; the number of drug offenders in federal prisons has increased 21 times since 1980.
Spurred by this alarming reality, the U.S. Sentencing Commission unanimously voted last week to give nearly 50,000 inmates the chance to reduce their drug sentences. This came after an April decision to lower sentencing guidelines, the advisory rules given to judges, by an average of one to two years for drug-related crimes.
July 23, 2014
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5076, the Enhancing Services for Runaway and Homeless Victims of Youth Trafficking Act of 2014. I am honored to have joined my colleagues, Mr. Heck and Mr. Kline, and appreciate their leadership on this important issue.
Our bill makes an important change in the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act so that victims of trafficking can be better served. We know that trafficking and youth homelessness often affect similar populations. Young people that have run away or are homeless are particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation and trafficking, and programs targeted towards runaway and homeless youth should be simultaneously equipped to support victims of trafficking when there is such an overlap.
Issues:Civil RightsCrimeJudiciary
July 23, 2014
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, Friday, July 25th, marks the 40th anniversary of the Legal Services Corporation, which was established by Congress in 1974, with bipartisan support, including that of President Richard Nixon. LSC is a private, nonprofit corporation, funded by Congress. Its mission is to ensure equal access to justice under the law for all Americans by providing civil legal assistance to those who otherwise would be unable to afford it. LSC funds 134 local legal aid programs, with nearly 800 offices serving every state and U.S. territory.
I have long been a supporter of legal assistance for low income Americans and of the LSC dating back to the 1970s, when I led the effort to establish the LSC funded Virginia Peninsula Legal Aid Center, Inc. So I know from first-hand experience that LSC-funded legal aid programs make a critical difference to low income Americans by assisting with their most basic civil legal needs.
Issues:Civil RightsJudiciary
July 18, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the United States Sentencing Commission voted unanimously to apply a reduction in the sentencing guideline levels applicable to most federal drug inmates retroactively. Unless Congress disapproves the amendment, beginning November 1, 2014, eligible inmates can ask courts to reduce their sentences. Courts will review a number of individualized factors, including public safety, in consideration of whether to grant these reductions.
July 7, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-Va.) sent a letter to the Chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission Patti Saris. This letter comes at the close of the Commission’s comment period on a “drugs minus two” amendment, a proposal that fixes a flaw in the sentencing guidelines that has resulted in excessive sentences for approximately 51,000 currently incarcerated federal drug offenders who have been sentenced since 1987. The Commission has acknowledged that since 1987 the drug guidelines have been higher than necessary for years, due to a miscalculation at the “low end” of the drug sentencing guidelines wherein a low level offense carriers a prison term higher than the mandatory minimum sentence.
Issues:Civil RightsCrimeJudiciary
June 6, 2014
By WAVY News 10
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) – Congressman Bobby Scott put on held a forum for frustrated residents in Newport News Thursday night.
The town hall meeting was about gang violence prevention. People packed An Achievable Dream Middle and High School to be a part of it.
They wasted no time venting their frustrations to the audience and their representative, who was in town from Washington.
May 22, 2014
Washington, D.C. – The House of Representatives today approved by a vote of 302-121 the USA Freedom Act (H.R. 3361), a bipartisan bill authored by Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) that ends bulk collection of data by the government and reforms our nation’s intelligence-gathering programs operated under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
April 23, 2014
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Department of Justice Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole announced six criteria the Department of Justice will consider when reviewing and expediting clemency applications - for President Obama's review and approval- from a select group of non-violent individuals behind bars. These petitions will be prioritized for review over other clemency petitions that do not require all six criteria. In addition to announcing the new head of the Office of the Pardon Attorney, Attorney General Eric Holder announced his intention to increase the numbers of attorneys, with backgrounds in both prosecution and defense, to aid the permanent staff of the Pardon Office during this initiative. After the public announcements, U.S. House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-Va.) issued the following statement: