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Last Friday Senator Rand Paul spoke at Bowie State University about the need to reform our justice system. He spoke of the need to reform a system where 2 million American children have fathers in prison, leading to a breakdown of the American family. He spoke of the need to reform a system that too often prevents individuals from gaining employment after their release from prison and instead turns them over to the welfare state. Most importantly, he spoke of real proposals to implement the necessary changes, not vague hopes or dreams.
Senator Paul first brought up civil asset forfeiture, an area of the law he called “out of control” and one that he most wants to change. Under civil asset forfeiture, the seizing agency can take an individual’s property, whether that property is cash, a car, or a business, without convicting them, or even charging them, of a crime. Senator Paul said this turns justice on its head and he believes people should be innocent until proven guilty. To combat this he has sponsored the FAIR Act which would require the government prove by a clear and convincing standard that the property was used in connection with a crime before it could be seized.
Senator Paul next discussed the need to reform federal mandatory minimums for nonviolent offenders. He brought up the example that a man can kill somebody in Kentucky and be eligible for parole in 12 years, but Weldon Angelos sold $300 worth of marijuana and received 55 years in prison because of mandatory minimums. He urged that other considerations, such as remorse, ability to work, other ways to punish and the specific facts of the case need to be considered when issuing sentences. To help fix this problem he has cosponsored the Smarter Sentencing Act which would decrease the length of mandatory minimums and expand the safety valve to allow for more sentencing below mandatory minimums.
Senator Paul also talked about the need to make sure that juveniles’ lives are not wasted behind bars and rather than turning them into career criminals, we allow them the opportunity to create a productive life for themselves. There are too many examples of teenagers that have been arrested for nonviolent crimes, which have led to prison sentences, which can prevent them from finding gainful employment, which can lead to a life of crime. To help fix this problem Senator Paul has sponsored the REDEEM Act, which would expunge the records of many nonviolent, juvenile offenders and make it easier for these individuals to become productive members of society.
Throughout his speech, Senator Paul spoke of two Americas, not based on race, ethnicity or gender, but based on economic stability and level of education. The first America is the America most of us think of, the one that believes in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But in the second America there is an “undercurrent of unease” where there is despair rather than hope and too many face fines and prison sentences. With the bills on justice reform that Senator Paul has sponsored and cosponsored, it is clear that one of his main goals is to make these two Americas one again.
The California House Public Safety Committee is expected to hold a hearing on June 30 to debate proposed civil asset forfeiture reforms that offer substantive protections for innocent property owners.
With members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, under the watchful eye of Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), working on long overdue sentencing reforms, a group of 130 former federal prosecutors, judges, and other law enforcement officials sent a letter urging action on the Smarter Sentencing Act.
Using civil asset forfeiture, the government often seizes the property of completely innocent individuals. However, despite their innocence, these individuals often settle with the government and forfeit a portion of their property to government authorities. Why do they do this?
The House Judiciary Committee announced the formation of a criminal justice reform initiative that will examine various pieces of legislation that would address issues including over-criminalization, sentencing reform, and prison reform.
During a recent a recent discussion with Oklahoma journalists, Gov. Mary Fallin indicated that reforms were necessary to the Sooner State's awful civil asset forfeiture laws. How far she is willing to go remains to be seen.
Mark Weller and his court-appointed attorney, Brad Hansen, pleaded for leniency from U.S. District Court Judge Mark Bennett, who was at the center of a Washington Post story over the weekend on federal sentencing laws. Unfortunately, even though Weller had a story and family history that urged sentencing restraint, Judge Bennett's sentence was mandated by big government in Washington.
Civil asset forfeiture is a unique area of law in which the government charges specific property of being guilty of wrongdoing, rather than a person. Perhaps because the property is accused of wrongdoing, and not the person, governments often place lower standards of proof needed to forfeit the property. The procedures used by the federal government and many state governments creates grave Fourth and Fifth Amendment concerns.
Pennsylvania’s long-awaited, all-encompassing civil asset forfeiture reform bill was introduced in the Senate in bipartisan fashion. Just before the bill was introduced, the Commonwealth's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union released a shocking study detailing the abuse of civil asset forfeiture by overzealous law enforcement and prosecutors in Philadelphia.
On Thursday, the Michigan House of Representatives passed a bipartisan package of eight bills that would overhaul the state's civil asset forfeiture laws to offer more protections for innocent property owners. The Wolverine State is just the latest to advance reforms that curtail this pernicious brand of government overreach.
ObamaCare is falling apart. The law needs millions of healthy people to sign up, but they aren't. Now the Obama Administration has promised a bailout for Big Insurance. We need to stop this.