The main sentencing reform bill, the SRCA, was effectively withdrawn today by its sponsors after it became clear that it had failed to hoodwink enough senators to get enacted. See my post here.
But we shouldn't kid ourselves. They'll be back. The forces working to reduce sentences are too powerful and too determined to just give up.
Contrary to much of what we hear in the press, the main backers are not libertarian Republicans like Sen. Mike Lee and many people at CATO. Republicans have given a good deal of political cover to this plainly pro-criminal proposal (tell me again who principally benefits from reduced sentences?), but they are not the prime movers. For reasons I remain unable to fathom -- since the bill is a political loser in addition to being bad for the country -- they have allowed themselves to be enlisted in someone else's cause.
And who would that be? George Soros would be a good guess, as would Al Sharpton and the NACDL. Good, but we need to look a little higher.
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