On the recordJune 8, 2018
I have had the opportunity to serve on the Judiciary Committee for a number of years. It is a committee that has almost two-thirds of the jurisdiction of the United States Congress. What I love about it: It is a protector of the rights of the American people through the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. The pardon is an act of mercy, and this past week I applauded the act of mercy that was generated for a woman in Alabama who had a sentence of 100 years for a small, nonviolent drug offense. That woman became a minister and worked on degrees while she was incarcerated. I think we can expand on this concept of mercy and pass sentencing reduction, which goes to the reflection on sentencing that has been done under mandatory minimums for nonviolent offenses where individuals are incarcerated across the Nation for 25, 30, 40, 50 years, and even life. If we do that through the legislative process, we will have a structure that will look at these individuals to make sure that they can contribute to society. We need the National Sheriffs' Association, the National Association of Law Enforcement, the evangelicals, people of all faiths; we need lawyers; we need social workers; we need physicians to look at how this impacts families. We can do this with the House and the Senate. I commit to this Congress the interest in sentencing reduction. ____________________
