Congress is poised to pass sweeping criminal justice reforms that supporters say will reduce federal prison populations by more than 50,000 inmates, but still deter repeat offenses. Members of Maine’s congressional delegation support the changes and say they are long overdue.
The Senate voted 82-to-12 to give final approval to the bill. The House passed a similar measure earlier this year by a wide margin but has to pass the latest version.
The measure would change several sentencing laws, including the “three strikes” penalty for drug felonies, which would be reduced from life in prison to 25 years. It would also change some of the mandatory minimums for similar crimes.
“In essence it provides more flexibility to judges to sentence people according to the severity of the crime and the seriousness,” says Maine independent Sen. Angus King.
King supports the measure, which was opposed by a dozen conservative Republican senators who wanted to weaken the bill. Those proposed amendments, however, were rejected by large bipartisan majorities.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins says it was clear that most of her caucus saw the major benefits of the legislation.
“This can make us safer because people are less likely to commit future crimes,” Collins says. “It gives a second chance to people that have committed nonviolent crimes and are at low risk of committing another crime.”
There are now more than 180,000 inmates in federal prisons across the United States. The reform measure is expected to reduce that population by 53,000 inmates in its first year. Collins says the savings from the bill is estimated at $100 million per year once fully implemented.
First District U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat, voted for the House version of the bill earlier this year and believes the Senate version will also be approved.
“It certainly tries to reduce recidivism,” says Pingree. “It has a lot of things that I think would be very good for our prison system, which is full of problems.”
Republican 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin also voted for the earlier version of the bill. He did not respond to a request for an interview on whether he supports the latest version.
Advocates say they hope states that have adopted sentencing guidelines similar to those under current federal law will consider their own reforms as well.
Originally published Dec. 19, 2018 at 5:33 p.m. ET.
