02Aug 2022 by Charles E. Price

Kushner recounts Jeff Sessions’ attempts to block Trump’s landmark criminal justice reform bill

LAW
In his upcoming book, "Breaking History: A White House Memoir," Kushner details several efforts by Sessions to stymie his efforts to amass an unlikely coalition of conservative and liberal lawmakers -- and to dissuade then-President Donald Trump from backing them.In one instance, Kushner writes that Sessions' team at the Justice Department successfully thwarted an April 2018 committee markup of the legislation by recommending last-minute changes to the legislation that amounted to "poison pills" and which Kushner at the time described as "ridiculous " and in "bad faith." Sessions' feuds with Kushner over the reform effort and his numerous attempts to block the process were thoroughly reported at the time.Through an associate, Sessions declined to comment on Kushner's book. Amid Sessions' efforts to block the legislation and try to dissuade conservatives…
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26Jul 2022 by Charles E. Price

Biden’s sentencing panel noms vows to implement criminal justice reform law

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US Sentencing Commission nominees US District Judge Carlton Reeves, Laura Mate, Claire McCusker Murray, US Circuit Judge Luis Restrepo, US District Judge Claria Horn Boom, John Gleeson and Candice Wong appear before the US Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, DC, on June 8 , 2022. US Senate/Handout via ReutersRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterSeven Sentencing Commission nominees appear before US Senate Judiciary CommitteeCommission has lacked a quorum for three years Republicans question some Biden nominees' criticism of harsh sentences(Reuters) - Seven nominees to the US Sentencing Commission promised on Wednesday to prioritize implementing a major 2018 criminal justice reform law, a task the hobbled panel had been unable to accomplish since losing its quorum shortly after its enactment.US District Judge Carlton Reeves told the Senate Judiciary Committee that…
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04Jul 2022 by Charles E. Price
Thousands of federal inmates still await early release under Trump-era First Step Act, advocates say

Thousands of federal inmates still await early release under Trump-era First Step Act, advocates say

LAW
Thousands of nonviolent federal prisoners eligible for early release under a promising Trump-era law remain locked up nearly four years later because of inadequate implementation, confusion and bureaucratic delays, prisoner advocacy groups, affected inmates and former federal prison officials say.Even the Biden administration's attempt to provide clarity to the First Step Act by identifying qualified inmates and then transferring them to home confinement or another form of supervised release appears to be falling short, according to prisoner advocates familiar with the law.The Department of Justice was tasked with carrying out the law through the federal Bureau of Prisons, but the bureau director, Michael Carvajal, a Trump administration holdover, announced his retirement in January amid criticism of a crisis-filled tenure marked by agency scandals. No replacement for Carvajal has been named,…
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