John Conyers: “I had hoped that we would have been able to come together to reach consensus on how best to deal with the difficult…”

“I had hoped that we would have been able to come together to reach consensus on how best to deal with the difficult problem of child abduction in this country and to pass an AMBER alert bill. The recent rash of child abductions clearly indicate that additional steps need to be taken to protect our children from sexual predators. Unfortunately, the conference was delayed and hung up by provisions which have nothing to do with Amber alert and which should have been dealt with separately. First and foremost, is the highly controversial amendment offered by Rep. Tom Feeney, which would totally hamstring any remaining discretion federal judges have in making sentencing determinations. This provision was added on the floor two weeks ago without proper hearings or committee debate and clearly is not ready for prime time. It is opposed by Chief Justice Rehnquist, by the Federal Judicial Conference, by the American Bar Association, by the Federal Bar Association, by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, by the NAACP and by countless law professors, prosecutors, and public defenders. In a nutshell, the Freeney Amendment, as introduced, would make it next to impossible for federal judges to reduce sentences below the guidelines, even where mitigating factors such a military service, community involvement and youth are present.”