HR0544 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0544 LRB098 13014 RLC 47522 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world; and

WHEREAS, With over 2,300,000 men and women living behind bars, our imprisonment rate is the highest it has ever been in United States history; and

WHEREAS, Despite the high incarceration rate in the United States, our criminal justice system is not cost effective, disproportionately impacts minorities and the poor, and does not enhance public safety; and

WHEREAS, On August 1, 2013, Senators Dick Durbin and Mike Lee introduced S. 1410, the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013; and

WHEREAS, The bill seeks to modernize federal drug sentencing laws by lowering mandatory minimum sentences for persons convicted of non-violent drug offenses; and

WHEREAS, The bill would apply the Fair Sentencing Act retroactively, an Act enacted in 2010 that reduced the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine, by allowing the courts to review the sentences of persons convicted under the prior cocaine laws that were determined by Congress to be unjust and racially disparate to determine whether those persons convicted deserve sentences consistent with current law; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Senator Durbin for introducing the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013 and urge Congress to pass the bill; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, and each member of the Illinois congressional delegation.