home

Sensenbrenner Calls For More Mandatory Sentencing Laws

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Wed Feb 01, 2012 at 08:55:00 AM EST
Tags: James Sensenbrenner, federal sentencing (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), current Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, has always struck me as a public menace. He's now advocating more mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Other Republicans are joining him.

If you don't remember Sensenbrenner from 2004- 2005, when he was Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, here are some of his dooziest proposals:[More...]

  • Five Years for Passing a Joint to someone who's recently been in rehab or who is under 21 (10 years for passing a joint to someone under 18 -- a 21 year old first time offender who gives some pot to his 17 year old brother would get 10 years.) Five years for giving pot to someone in an urban area (100 feet of library, park, video arcade, public or private daycare, drug treatment center.) The bill was the "Defending America's Most Vulnerable: Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act" (H.R. 1528) in 2004, re-introduced as H.R. 4547 in 2005.

    Sensenbrenner wanted mandatory five-year terms for the sale or distribution (which includes delivery without remuneration) of every illegal drug, no matter how small the amount or the penalty under state law. It also included the infamous Snitch or Go to Jail provisions:

    The bill provides for a two year jail sentence if you observe or come across information about drug distribution near colleges and do not report it to authorities within 24 hours and provide full assistance investigating, apprehending, and prosecuting those involved.
    The bill created mandatory five and ten year prison terms for using drugs in front of children. (Dad watches Mom smoke marijuana in their living room, they both head to prison, and Junior goes to foster care.)
  • Sensenbrenner's Border Protection Bill, which Bernie Sanders aptly described at the time saying:
    'This Bill is so ridiculous that, according to the Republicans, Santa Claus himself would be a criminal for trekking fr