Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017
Latest action. Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017
This bill amends various provisions of law and sets forth new provisions:
to reduce mandatory minimum prison terms for certain nonviolent repeat drug offenses;
to establish a mandatory sentencing enhancement for a drug offense involving heroin or fentanyl;
to broaden the existing safety valve to permit a sentence below the mandatory minimum for certain nonviolent, cooperative drug offenders with a limited criminal history;
to create a new safety valve for certain nonviolent, cooperative defendants convicted of a high-level first-time or low-level repeat drug offense;
to create new mandatory minimum prison terms, including for interstate domestic violence that results in a victim's death and for providing goods or services to terrorists;
to make the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 retroactive to permit resentencing of a convicted crack cocaine offender sentenced before August 3, 2010;
to require the Bureau of Prisons to expand recidivism reduction programs and productive activities to all eligible prisoners;
to lengthen prerelease custody for prisoners who successfully complete such programs;
to develop the Post-Sentencing Risk and Needs Assessment System;
to create reentry demonstration projects in judicial districts;
to require presentence investigation reports to include certain information such as substance abuse history, military service, and veteran status;
to permit a court to reduce a life prison term imposed on a defendant convicted as an adult for an offense committed as a juvenile;
to establish a process to seal and expunge certain records of juvenile nonviolent offenses;
to prohibit juvenile solitary confinement, except in limited circumstances;
to make permanent and modify eligibility for an elderly offender early release pilot program; and
to establish the National Criminal Justice Commission.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on October 4, 2017. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 15, 2018: Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Charles Grassley (R-IA) introduced it on October 4, 2017, and 31 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 15 Democrats, 15 Republicans, 1 independent.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on October 4, 2017, 3263 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3129 days ago, on February 15, 2018.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers