Project for Opportunity and Safety

But over time those mandatory minimum laws meant that some offenders could get very long sentences for relatively minor offenses. For instance, the federal mandatory minimum sentence for nonviolent drug offenses is 10 years.

In fact, most of the offenders behind bars today are nonviolent drug offenders. Instead of using the sentencing to hold them accountable and treat the root of their crime, we are keeping them in jail, making their re-entrance into society much more difficult.

I’m not suggesting we should suddenly go soft on crime. What I am suggesting is that we need to become smarter about how we sentence criminals. Because not only is our corrections system the largest in the world, it’s by far the most expensive as well.

And believe it or not, there is a very good chance that reform of our justice system could be passed by Congress this year. Already, 34 senators (19 Democrats and 15 Republicans) have co-sponsored the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015. One of the most recent additions to that co-sponsor list is Montana’s Sen. Steve Daines.

The SRCA is good step toward relieving overcrowding while focusing tougher sentencing on repeat and violent offenders. The SRCA would allow judges more discretion in sentencing for lower-level crimes.

Most significantly, it would allow a judge to lower the mandatory minimum from 10 to five years for drug offenses for defendants who have never had a violent offense, do not participate in gang activity, were not involved in the production or “wholesale” level of drug trafficking, and had never distributed drugs to a minor.

The SRCA also expands the so-called “safety valve” which allows judges to waive mandatory minimum sentences altogether for some first-time, nonviolent drug offenders.

Sentencing reform is never an easy task. For basic public safety, we need to make sure that the people who should be behind bars are behind bars. But prescribing a sort of one-size-fits-all approach to sentencing and taking away discretion from judges has produced the new problem of expensive prison overcrowding we have today.

The SRCA is a measured approach that has attracted significant support from conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats alike. That’s rare in Washington these days. So let’s encourage our congressional delegation to work to keep the momentum going.

Thank you, Sen. Daines, for taking a leadership role on a difficult issue. It really will make a difference for Montana and our nation.