Update: The committee markup has been postponed until next week -- that means there's still time to call! (Calls needed from AL, AZ, CA, CT, DE, HI, IL, IA, MN, NY, RI, SC, TX, UT, VT.)
Dear friend,
Tomorrow -- Thursday, December 12 -- the US Senate Judiciary Committee will meet to discuss mandatory minimum sentencing and S. 1410, the Smarter Sentencing Act. The Smarter Sentencing Act is a bipartisan bill sponsored by committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), which would allow federal judges to bypass the much-criticized mandatory minimum sentences, sparing thousands of nonviolent federal offenders from years or even decades of incarceration. The bill would also extend retroactive sentencing reductions to some federal crack prisoners who had already been sentenced before the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act that reduced crack sentences was passed.
Today is a National Call-In Day for people who have Senators on the Judiciary Committee to call them in support of the bill. Please read the list of committee members below. If you live in one of the states that is on the list, please call the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be transferred to the Senator's office. (If you are from Minnesota, Texas or Utah, you have two phone calls to make, as both of your Senators as on the Committee.) There is a phone script below that you can use as a guide for your call. When you are done, or if you are not from one of these states, please post this alert to your web sites or social media, or circulate them to people you know who are from any of these states.
- Alabama: Sen. Jeff Sessions (urge to vote for S. 1410)
- Arizona: Sen. Jeff Flake (urge to vote for S. 1410)
- California: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (urge to vote for S. 1410)
- Connecticut: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (urge to vote for S. 1410)
- Delaware: Sen. Christopher Coons (urge to vote for S. 1410)
- Hawaii: Sen. Mazie Hirono (urge to vote for S. 1410)
- Illinois: Sen. Richard Durbin (thank for sponsoring the bill)
- Iowa: Sen. Charles Grassley (urge to vote for S. 1410)
- Minnesota: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (urge to vote for S. 1410)
- Minnesota: Sen. Al Franken (urge to vote for S. 1410)
- New York: Sen. Chuck Schumer (urge to vote for S. 1410)
- Rhode Island: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (thank for sponsoring the bill)
- South Carolina: Sen. Lindsey Graham (urge to vote for S. 1410)
- Texas: Sen. John Cornyn (urge to vote for S. 1410)
- Texas: Sen. Ted Cruz (urge to vote for S. 1410)
- Utah: Sen. Orrin Hatch (urge to vote for S. 1410)
- Utah: Sen. Mike Lee (thank for sponsoring the bill)
- Vermont: Sen. Patrick Leahy (thank for sponsoring the bill)
Here is a script to use if your Senator is not a sponsor of S. 1410:
"I'm a constituent, and I'm calling to ask the Senator to vote in favor of mandatory minimum sentencing reform, including the Smarter Sentencing Act, S. 1410, at this Thursday's Judiciary Committee markup. The Senator should vote to reform mandatory minimums because they are unfair, expensive, and don't keep us safe. Thank you for considering my views."
And here is a script to use if your Senator is a sponsor of S. 1410:
"I'm a constituent, and I'm calling to thank the Senator for his support of mandatory minimum sentencing reform, including S. 1410, at this Thursday's Judiciary Committee markup. The Senate should vote to reform mandatory minimums because they are unfair, expensive, and don't keep us safe. Thank you for considering my views."
Thank you for taking action! Read our report about why this is such a promising time for sentencing reform, online here [10]. And read more about the upcoming hearing here [11].
Sincerely,
David Borden, Executive Director
StoptheDrugWar.org
Washington, DC
http://stopthedrugwar.org [12]
