[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7194 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7194
To eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for all drug offenses.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 11, 2020
Ms. Waters (for herself, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Lee of California, Ms.
Norton, Mr. Pocan, and Mr. Khanna) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for all drug offenses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Mandatory Minimum Reform Act of
2020''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Mandatory minimum sentences are statutorily prescribed
terms of imprisonment that automatically attach upon conviction
of certain criminal conduct, often pertaining to drug offenses.
Absent very narrow criteria for relief, a sentencing judge is
powerless to mandate a term of imprisonment below the mandatory
minimum. Mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses rely
solely upon the weight of the substance as a proxy for the
defendant's role and degree of involvement.
(2) In the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, and at the height
of the public concern over crack cocaine, Congress acted
hastily, without sufficient hearings, and enacted hard line
penalties that targeted low-level drug offenders. These
penalties included new, long mandatory minimum sentences for
such offenders.
(3) According to the Bureau of Prisons, in 1986, when the
new drug law containing lengthy mandatory minimum sentences
passed, the prison population was 36,000. Today, the Federal
prison population is over 177,000 up over 390 percent in 33
years.
(4) According to the Bureau of Prisons, the average cost to
keep one prisoner in Federal prison for the fiscal year of 2017
was $36,299.25, which equates to $99.45 per day.
(5) Annual spending on the Federal prison system rose by
over 600 percent, from roughly $966,000,000 to more than $6.9
billion in inflation-adjusted dollars, between 1980 and 2015.
(6) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, 69,425
offenders were sentenced in fiscal year 2018. Of those, 18,964
offenders were sentenced for a drug trafficking offense; with
over half (58.4 percent) of all drug trafficking offenders
convicted of an offense carrying a mandatory minimum penalty.
(7) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, drug
offenders released from prison in 1986 who had been sentenced
before the adoption of mandatory sentences and sentencing
guidelines had served an average of 22 months in prison. In
fiscal year 2018, the average sentence for drug trafficking
offenders subject to a mandatory minimum penalty was more than
10 years (131 months; 62 months with relief).
(8) In fiscal year 2016, many of those offenders convicted
of an offense carrying a mandatory minimum sentence were
nonviolent or low-level offenders. According to the U.S.
Sentencing Commission, only 28.7 percent of convictions for
drug trafficking offenses carrying a mandatory minimum penalty
involved the use of a weapon, violence, or threats of violence.
Only 11.7 percent of offenders convicted of such offenses
played a leadership role.
(9) Mandatory minimum sentences have historically been
shown to have a disproportionate impact on African Americans.
The United States Sentencing Commission, in a 15-year overview
of the Federal sentencing system, concluded that ``mandatory
penalty statutes are used inconsistently'' and
disproportionately affect African-American defendants.
According to another United States Sentencing Commission
report, in fiscal year 2016, of the 8,342 offenders who were
subject to a Federal mandatory minimum penalty at sentencing,
Black offenders were the largest group, representing 35.5
percent, followed by White offenders, who represented 31.1
percent, and Hispanic offenders, who represented 30.9 percent.
(10) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, between
1994 and 2003, the average time served by African Americans for
a drug offense increased by 62 percent, compared to a 17-
percent increase among White drug defendants.
(11) According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration, surveys have documented that drug use
is roughly consistent across racial and ethnic groups. While
there is less data available regarding drug sellers, research
from the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the
National Institute of Justice has found that drug users
generally buy drugs from someone of their own racial or ethnic
background. But, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission,
about 73 percent of all drug offenders sentenced in 2018 were
African American and Hispanic, many of whom are low-level
offenders.
(12) As a result of Federal prosecutors' focus on low-level
drug offenders, the overwhelming majority of individuals
subject to the heightened crack cocaine penalties are African
American. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, in
fiscal year 2016, of those offenders sentenced on Federal crack
cocaine charges, only 5.5 percent were White, while 82.6
percent and 11.4 percent were African American and Hispanic,
respectively.
(13) According to the U.S. Census, African Americans
comprise 13.3 percent of the U.S. population, but according to
the U.S. Sentencing Commission, in fiscal year 2018 African
Americans made up 24.9 percent of all drug trafficking
offenders.
(14) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, in fiscal
year 2016, about 34.6 percent of women entering Federal prison
did so for a drug offense. Linking drug quantity with
punishment severity has had a particularly profound impact on
women, who are historically more likely to play peripheral
roles in a drug enterprise than men. However, because
prosecutors can attach drug quantities to an individual
regardless of the level of a defendant's participation in the
charged offense, women have been exposed to increasingly
punitive sentences.
(15) Low-level and mid-level drug offenders can be
adequately prosecuted by the States and punished or supervised
in treatment as appropriate.
(16) Congress has an obligation to taxpayers to use
sentencing policies that are cost-effective and increase public
safety, in addition to establishing a criminal justice system
that is fair, efficient, and provides just sentences for
offenders. Mandatory sentences have not been conclusively shown
to reduce recidivism or deter crime.
(17) The limited resources in the Federal criminal justice
system should be used to protect society by incapacitating
dangerous and violent offenders who pose a threat to public
safety.
(18) The Federal judiciary has the expertise and is in the
best position to sentence each offender and determine who
should be sent to Federal prisons and the amount of time each
offender should serve.
SEC. 3. APPROVAL OF CERTAIN PROSECUTIONS BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.
A Federal prosecution for an offense under the Controlled
Substances Act, the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act, or for
any conspiracy to commit such an offense, where the offense involves
the illegal distribution or possession of a controlled substance in an
amount less than that amount specified as a minimum for an offense
under section 401(b)(1)(A) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C.
841(b)(1)(A)) or, in the case of any substance containing cocaine or
cocaine base, in an amount less than 500 grams, shall not be commenced
without the prior written approval of the Attorney General.
SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN SENTENCING PROVISIONS.
(a) Section 404.--Section 404(a) of the Controlled Substances Act
(21 U.S.C. 844(a)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``not less than 15 days but'';
(2) by striking ``not less than 90 days but''; and
(3) by striking the sentence beginning ``The imposition or
execution of a minimum sentence''.
(b) Section 401.--Section 401(b) of the Controlled Substances Act
(21 U.S.C. 841(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)(A)--
(A) by striking ``which may not be less than 10
years and or more than'' and inserting ``for any term
of years or for'';
(B) by striking ``and if death or serious bodily
injury results from the use of such substance shall not
be less than 20 years or more than life'';
(C) by striking ``which may not be less than 20
years and not more than life imprisonment and if death
or serious bodily injury results from the use of such
substance shall be sentenced to imprisonment for any
term of years or for life imprisonment'' and inserting
``for any term of years or for life'';
(D) by striking the sentence beginning ``If any
person commits a violation of this subparagraph''; and
(E) by striking the sentence beginning
``Notwithstanding any other provision of law'' and the
sentence beginning ``No person sentenced'';
(2) in paragraph (1)(B)--
(A) by striking ``which may not be less than 5
years and'' and inserting ``for'';
(B) by striking ``not less than 20 years or more
than,'' and inserting ``for any term or years or for'';
(C) by striking ``which may not be less than 10
years and not more than'' and inserting ``for any term
of years or for'';
(D) by inserting ``imprisonment for any term of
years or for'' after ``if death or serious bodily
injury results from the use of such substance shall be
sentenced to''; and
(E) by striking the sentence beginning
``Notwithstanding any other provision of law'' and the
sentence beginning ``No person sentenced''; and
(3) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ``of not less than
twenty years or more than life'' and inserting ``for any term
of years or to life imprisonment''.
(c) Section 1010.--Section 1010(b) of the Controlled Substances
Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by striking ``of not less than 10 years and not
more than'' and inserting ``for any term of years or
for'';
(B) by striking ``and if death'' the first place it
appears and all that follows through ``20 years and not
more than life'' the first place it appears;
(C) by striking ``of not less than 20 years and not
more than life imprisonment'' and inserting ``for any
term of years or for life'';
(D) by striking ``and if death or serious bodily
injury results from the use of such substance shall be
sentenced to life imprisonment''; and
(E) by striking the sentence beginning
``Notwithstanding any other provision of law'' and the
sentence beginning ``No person sentenced'';
(2) in paragraph (2)--
(A) by striking ``not less than 5 years and'';
(B) by striking ``of not less than twenty years and
not more than'' and inserting ``for any term of years
or for'';
(C) by striking ``of not less than 10 years and not
more than'' and inserting ``for any term of years or
to'';
(D) by striking ``and if death or serious bodily
injury results from the use of such substance shall be
sentenced to life imprisonment''; and
(E) by striking the sentence beginning
``Notwithstanding any other provision of law'' and the
sentence beginning ``No person sentenced''; and
(3) in paragraph (3), by striking ``of not less than twenty
years and not more than life'' and inserting ``for any term or
years or for life''.
(d) Section 418.--Section 418 of the Controlled Substances Act (21
U.S.C. 859) is amended by striking the sentence beginning ``Except to
the extent'' each place it appears and by striking the sentence
beginning ``The mandatory minimum''.
(e) Section 419.--Section 419 of the Controlled Substances Act (21
U.S.C. 860) is amended--
(1) by striking the sentence beginning ``Except to the
extent'' each place it appears and by striking the sentence
beginning ``The mandatory minimum''; and
(2) by striking subsection (d).
(f) Section 420.--Section 420 of the Controlled Substances Act (21
U.S.C. 861) is amended--
(1) in each of subsections (b) and (c), by striking the
sentence beginning ``Except to the extent'';
(2) by striking subsection (e); and
(3) in subsection (f), by striking ``, (c), and (e)'' and
inserting ``and (c)''.
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