SEN.

WEBB’S NATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMISSION ACT OF 2010

July 2010

SUMMARY

The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2010, introduced by Senator Jim Webb on
March 26, 2009, will create a blue-ribbon commission charged with undertaking an 18-month,
top-to-bottom review of the criminal justice system. Its task will be to propose concrete, wide-
ranging reforms to address the most pressing issues facing the nation’s criminal justice system.
The bill was passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 21, 2010, and is now awaiting
a vote on the Senate floor. The bill has 39 co-sponsors and has been endorsed by dozens of
organizations from across the political spectrum.

On April 27, 2010, companion legislation to the Senate bill was introduced in the House of
Representatives by Representative Bill Delahunt [D-MA] and a bipartisan coalition of co-
sponsors. The bill was passed by the House on July 27, 2010.

WHY THIS LEGISLATION IS URGENTLY NEEDED

• The United States has by far the world’s highest incarceration rate. With five percent of
the world’s population, our country now houses twenty-five percent of the world’s
reported prisoners. More than 2.38 million Americans are now in prison, and another 5
million remain on probation or parole.

• Our prison population has skyrocketed over the past two decades as we have incarcerated
more people for non-violent crimes and acts driven by mental illness or drug dependence.

• The costs to our federal, state, and local governments of keeping repeat offenders in the
criminal justice system continue to grow during a time of increasingly tight budgets.

• Existing practices too often incarcerate people who do not belong in prison and distract
from locking up the more serious, violent offenders who are a threat to our communities.

• Transnational criminal activity, much of it directed by violent gangs and cartels from
Latin America, Asia and Europe, has permeated the country. Mexican cartels alone now
operate in more than 230 communities across the country.

• Mass incarceration of illegal drug users has not curtailed drug usage. The multi-billion
dollar illegal drugs industry remains intact, with more dangerous drugs continuing to
reach our streets.

• Incarceration for drug crimes has had a disproportionate impact on minority

communities, despite virtually identical levels of drug use across racial and ethnic lines.
 • Post-incarceration re-entry programs are haphazard and often nonexistent, undermining
public safety and making it extremely difficult for ex-offenders to become full,
contributing members of society.

LEGISLATION: REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Commission shall undertake a comprehensive review of all areas of the criminal justice
system, including federal, state, local, and tribal governments’ criminal justice costs, practices,
and policies. After conducting its review, the Commission shall make recommendations for
changes in oversight, policies, practices, and laws designed to prevent, deter, and reduce crime
and violence, improve cost-effectiveness, and ensure the interests of justice.

SENATE CO-SPONSORS

The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2010 has garnered wide support from Senate
leadership, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Obama Administration.

39 Cosponsors (as of July 28, 2010):

Sen. Mark Begich [D-AK] Sen. Patrick J. Leahy [D-VT] *

Sen. Jeff Bingaman [D-NM] Sen. Carl Levin [D-MI]
Sen. Sherrod Brown [D-OH] Sen. Blanche L. Lincoln [D-AR]
Sen. Barbara Boxer [D-CA] Sen. Claire McCaskill [D-MO]
Sen. Roland Burris [D-IL] Sen. Robert Menendez [D-NJ]
Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin [D-MD] * Sen. Jeff Merkley [D-OR]
Sen. Thomas R. Carper, [D-DE] Sen. Patty Murray [D-WA]
Sen. Robert P. Casey, Jr., [D-PA] Sen. Bill Nelson [D-FL]
Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL] * Sen. Harry Reid [D-NV]
Sen. Al Franken [D-MN] * Sen. Bernard Sanders [I-VT]
Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand [D-NY] Sen. Charles E. Schumer [D-NY] *
Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-SC] * Sen. Jeanne Shaheen [D-NH]
Sen. Kay Hagan [D-NC] Sen. Olympia Snowe [R-ME]
Sen. Tom Harkin [D-IA] Sen. Arlen Specter [D-PA] *
Sen. Orrin G Hatch, [R-UT] * Sen. Jon Tester, [D-MT]
Sen. John F. Kerry [D-MA] Sen. Mark Udall, [D-CO]
Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-MN] Sen. Mark R. Warner [D-VA]
Sen. Mary L. Landrieu [D-LA] Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D-RI] *
Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg [D-NJ] Sen. Ron Wyden [D-OR]

* Indicates Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND BUSINESS ENDORSEMENTS

- AdvoCare
- American Academy of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Americans for Democratic Action
- American Humanist Association
- American Jail Association
- The Association for Behavior Analysis
International, Special Interest Group in
Crime, Delinquency, and Forensic
Behavior Analysis
- American Probation and Parole
Association
- Attention Deficit Disorder Association
- Biomass Coordinating Council of the
American Council on Renewable Energy
- Carnevale Foundation
- Church of Scientology
- The Coalition for Juvenile Justice
- College Parents of America
- Community Action Partnership
- The Convict Criminology Group
- Corporation for Supportive Housing
- The Correctional Association of New
York
- Correctional Education Association
- Council of Juvenile Correctional
Administrators
- Criminon International
- Citizens United for Rehabilitation of
Errants – Chapter for Veterans
- Disciples Justice Action Network
- Drug Policy Alliance
- Drug Reform Coordination Network
- Families Against Mandatory Minimums
- FedCURE
- Fraternal Order of Police
- Friends Committee on National
Legislation
- The Fortune Society, The David
Rothenberg Center for Public Policy
- Goodwill Industries
- Haymarket Center
- Human Rights Watch
- The Innocence Project
- The Inner Voices
- Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative
- International Association of Chiefs of
Police
- International Community Corrections
Association
- International CURE – Citizens United for
Rehabilitation of Errants
- Just Detention International
- Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
- Leaders in Community Alternatives, Inc.
(National Headquarters, CA)
- Legal Action Center
- Marijuana Policy Project
- Methadone Support Organization
- The National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
- The National Advocacy Center of the
Sisters of the Good Sheperd
- National African American Drug Policy
Coalition
- National Alliance of Faith and Justice
- National Association of Blacks in
Criminal Justice
- National Association of Criminal Defense
Lawyers
- National Association of Social Workers
- National Black Policy Association
- National Center on Institutions and
Alternatives, Inc.
- National Congress of Black Women, Inc.
- National Correctional Industries
Association
- National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the USA
- National Council on Crime and
Delinquency, NCCD Center for Girls and
Young Women
- National Criminal Justice Association
- National Disability Rights Network
- Natioanl Employment Law Project
- National HIRE Network
- National Institutie for the Study,
Prevention and Treatment of Sexual
Trauma
- National Lagal Aid & Defender
Association
- National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws
- NETWORK, A National Catholic Social
Justice Lobby
- North American Family Institute
- November Coalition
- Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),
Washington Office
- Providence Service Corporation (National
Headquarters, AZ)
- Safe Streets Arts Foundation
- The Safer Foundation
- The Sentencing Project
- Sex Abuse Treatment Alliance and
CURE-SORT
- Students for Sensible Drug Policy
- Therapeutic Communities of America
- Union for Reform Judaism
- Unitarian Universalist Association of
Congregations
- United Church of Christ, Justice and
Witness Ministries
- United Methodist Church, General Board
of Church and Society
- The WestCare Foundation
- Women of Reform Judaism