WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Representative Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) and a bipartisan, bicameral group of colleagues in a new letter applauded and urged finalization of a proposal by the United States Sentencing Commission to improve the federal supervised release system in ways that align with their bipartisan, bicameral Safer Supervision Act. In addition to Senator Coons and Rep. Hunt, the letter was signed by bill cosponsors Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), U.S. Representative Barry Moore (R-Ala.), and the late U.S. Representative Sylvester Turner (D-Texas).
In January, the Commission unanimously proposed reforms to federal supervised release guidelines that would help ensure that scarce supervision resources are allocated in a manner that best promote public safety, that would restore discretion to courts in the imposition, termination, and revocation of supervision, and that would provide individuals with positive incentives to rehabilitate and reintegrate. These principles align with the Safer Supervision Act introduced in August 2023. In their letter, the lawmakers wrote that while there is no substitute for enactment of the Safer Supervision Act, the Commission “should finalize an amendment that robustly implements the letter and spirit of the bill to the extent it can do so within its authority.”
The bill has gained strong support from organizations across the political spectrum, as well as law enforcement groups, faith groups, and civil rights groups. The support demonstrates the widespread acceptance how reform of federal supervision can “improve public safety, support law enforcement, use taxpayer dollars more responsibly, and better position people to succeed after they have served their time in prison.”
“We would encourage the Commission to consider how it could go further to implement the letter and spirit of the bill,” the lawmakers continued. “Additional guidance, including a presumption along the lines of the bill, could better instruct courts on the interest-of-justice standard and ensure that they use early termination when supervision is no longer necessary for the purposes it was imposed, rather than just in the most extraordinary of cases. With appropriate notice, supervisees will then have actionable positive incentives to rehabilitate and reintegrate, to the benefit of public safety.”
Senator Coons is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Co-Chair of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus.
This is nice to see for a bipartisan bill without the usual exceptions seen in bills by those voted into office.