When the Smarter Sentencing Act was up last year, one of its major backers  --  and one constantly touted by Democrats and pro-criminal groups  --  was Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.  Cruz, known as very conservative, occasionally acerbic and brilliant, thought that we had gone too far with incarceration.  But he has now become a key actor opposing a watered-down version of the SSA.  

Speaking at the Judiciary meeting, Cruz said more than 7,000 prisoners could be released.

"None of us know what those 7,082 prisoners did, none of us know what the underlying conduct was that the prosecutors may have plea-bargained down under the existing sentencing laws, and that they may not have entered that plea bargain if they had known that the sentencing laws would be lessened," Cruz said. "When we're seeing violent crime spiking in our cities across the country, I think it would be a serious mistake for the Senate to pass legislation providing for 7,082 convicted criminals potentially to be released early."