WHEREAS, The Congressional Research Service in May 2016
issued a report entitled "The Federal Prison Population Buildup:
Options for Congress" which stated that "Congress could consider
options such as (1) modifying mandatory minimum penalties, (2)
expanding the use of Residential Reentry Centers, (3) placing
more offenders on probation, (4) reinstating parole for Federal
inmates, (5) expanding the amount of good time credit an inmate
can earn, and (6) repealing Federal criminal statutes for some
offenses."; and
WHEREAS, States across the nation have instituted reforms
aimed at making their criminal justice systems smarter, fairer,
less costly and more efficient; and
WHEREAS, Pennsylvania has enacted a number of criminal
justice reforms, including a justice reinvestment initiative,
that have resulted in the prison population declining by more
than 2,000 people over the past four years and the closing of
one state correctional institution; and
WHEREAS, While reforms have taken place at the State level,
it does not absolve Congress of the need to enact criminal
justice reform at the Federal level; and
WHEREAS, A number of criminal justice reform proposals, such
as S. 2123 - Sentencing Reform & Corrections Act of 2015, H.R.
759 - Corrections & Recidivism Reduction Act of 2016, H.R. 2944
- Sensenbrenner-Scott SAFE Justice Reinvestment Act of 2015,
H.R. 3713 - Sentencing Reform Act of 2015 and H.R. 4002 -
Criminal Code Improvement Act of 2015, were introduced and some
of them were reported from committee during the 114th Congress
(2015-2016), which, in part, included reducing mandatory minimum
sentences for nonviolent offenses and examining stronger
recidivism reduction programs in Federal prisons, but failed to
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