II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 502 

To focus limited Federal resources on the most serious offenders. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2015 

Mr. LEE (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. 

BOOKER, Mr. PAUL, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. COONS) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To focus limited Federal resources on the most serious 

offenders. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smarter Sentencing 

5 Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. APPLICABILITY OF STATUTORY MINIMUMS. 

7 Section 3553(f)(1) of title 18, United States Code, 

8 is amended by striking ‘‘defendant’’ and all that follows 

9 through ‘‘point’’ and inserting ‘‘criminal history category 

10 for the defendant is not higher than category 2’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF APPLICABILITY OF THE FAIR 

2 SENTENCING ACT. 

3 (a) DEFINITION OF COVERED OFFENSE.—In this 

4 section, the term ‘‘covered offense’’ means a violation of 

5 a Federal criminal statute, the statutory penalties for 

6 which were modified by section 2 or 3 of the Fair Sen7 tencing Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–220; 124 Stat. 

8 2372), that was committed before August 3, 2010. 

9 (b) DEFENDANTS PREVIOUSLY SENTENCED.—A 

10 court that imposed a sentence for a covered offense, may, 

11 on motion of the defendant, the Director of the Bureau 

12 of Prisons, the attorney for the Government, or the court, 

13 impose a reduced sentence as if sections 2 and 3 of the 

14 Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–220; 124 

15 Stat. 2372) were in effect at the time the covered offense 

16 was committed. 

17 (c) LIMITATIONS.—No court shall entertain a motion 

18 made under this section to reduce a sentence if the sen19 tence was previously imposed or previously reduced in ac20 cordance with the amendments made by sections 2 and 

21 3 of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (Public Law 111– 

22 220; 124 Stat. 2372) or if a motion made under this sec23 tion to reduce the sentence was previously denied. Nothing 

24 in this section shall be construed to require a court to re25 duce any sentence pursuant to this section. 


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1 SEC. 4. SENTENCING MODIFICATIONS FOR CERTAIN DRUG 

2 OFFENSES. 

3 (a) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT.—The Con4 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) is amend5 ed— 

6 (1) in section 102 (21 U.S.C. 802), by adding 

7 at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(57) The term ‘courier’ means a defendant 

9 whose role in the offense was limited to transporting 

10 or storing drugs or money.’’; and 

11 (2) in section 401(b)(1) (21 U.S.C. 

12 841(b)(1))— 

13 (A) in the flush text following clause 

14 (viii)— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘10 years or more’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘5 years or more’’; 

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘such person shall be 

18 sentenced to a term of imprisonment which 

19 may not be less than 20 years and’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘such person shall be sentenced 

21 to a term of imprisonment of not less than 

22 10 years and’’; and 

23 (iii) by striking ‘‘mandatory term of 

24 life imprisonment without release’’ and in25 serting ‘‘term of imprisonment of not less 

26 than 25 years’’; and 


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1 (B) in the flush text following clause 

2 (viii)— 

3 (i) by striking ‘‘5 years’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘2 years’’; and 

5 (ii) by striking ‘‘not be less than 10 

6 years’’ and inserting ‘‘not be less than 5 

7 years’’. 

8 (b) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES IMPORT AND EXPORT

9 ACT.—Section 1010(b) of the Controlled Substances Im10 port and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960(b)) is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (1), in the flush text following 

12 subparagraph (H)— 

13 (A) by inserting ‘‘, other than a person 

14 who is a courier,’’ after ‘‘such violation’’; 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘person commits’’ and in16 serting ‘‘person, other than a courier, com17 mits’’; and 

18 (C) by inserting ‘‘If a person who is a cou19 rier commits such a violation, the person shall 

20 be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not 

21 less than 5 years and not more than life. If a 

22 person who is a courier commits such a viola23 tion after a prior conviction for a felony drug 

24 offense has become final, the person shall be 

25 sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less 


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1 than 10 years and not more than life.’’ before 

2 ‘‘Notwithstanding section 3583’’; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (2), in the flush text following 

4 subparagraph (H)— 

5 (A) by inserting ‘‘, other than a person 

6 who is a courier,’’ after ‘‘such violation’’; 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘person commits’’ and in8 serting ‘‘person, other than a courier, com9 mits’’; and 

10 (C) by inserting ‘‘If a person who is a cou11 rier commits such a violation, the person shall 

12 be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not 

13 less than 2 years and not more than life. If a 

14 person who is a courier commits such a viola15 tion after a prior conviction for a felony drug 

16 offense has become final, the person shall be 

17 sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not less 

18 than 5 years and not more than life.’’ before 

19 ‘‘Notwithstanding section 3583’’. 

20 SEC. 5. DIRECTIVE TO THE SENTENCING COMMISSION. 

21 (a) DIRECTIVE TO SENTENCING COMMISSION.—Pur22 suant to its authority under section 994(p) of title 28, 

23 United States Code, and in accordance with this section, 

24 the United States Sentencing Commission shall review and 

25 amend, if appropriate, its guidelines and its policy stateVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:52 Feb 24, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S502.IS S502

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1 ments applicable to persons convicted of an offense under 

2 section 401 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 

3 841) or section 1010 of the Controlled Substances Import 

4 and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960) to ensure that the guide5 lines and policy statements are consistent with the amend6 ments made by sections 2 and 4 of this Act and reflect 

7 the intent of Congress that such penalties be decreased 

8 in accordance with the amendments made by section 4 of 

9 this Act. 

10 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out this section, 

11 the United States Sentencing Commission shall con12 sider— 

13 (1) the mandate of the United States Sen14 tencing Commission, under section 994(g) of title 

15 28, United States Code, to formulate the sentencing 

16 guidelines in such a way as to ‘‘minimize the likeli17 hood that the Federal prison population will exceed 

18 the capacity of the Federal prisons’’; 

19 (2) the findings and conclusions of the United 

20 States Sentencing Commission in its October 2011 

21 report to Congress entitled, Mandatory Minimum 

22 Penalties in the Federal Criminal Justice System; 

23 (3) the fiscal implications of any amendments 

24 or revisions to the sentencing guidelines or policy 


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1 statements made by the United States Sentencing 

2 Commission; 

3 (4) the relevant public safety concerns involved 

4 in the considerations before the United States Sen5 tencing Commission; 

6 (5) the intent of Congress that penalties for 

7 violent, repeat, and serious drug traffickers who 

8 present public safety risks remain appropriately se9 vere; and 

10 (6) the need to reduce and prevent racial dis11 parities in Federal sentencing. 

12 (c) EMERGENCY AUTHORITY.—The United States 

13 Sentencing Commission shall— 

14 (1) promulgate the guidelines, policy state15 ments, or amendments provided for in this Act as 

16 soon as practicable, and in any event not later than 

17 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, in 

18 accordance with the procedure set forth in section 

19 21(a) of the Sentencing Act of 1987 (28 U.S.C. 994 

20 note), as though the authority under that Act had 

21 not expired; and 

22 (2) pursuant to the emergency authority pro23 vided under paragraph (1), make such conforming 

24 amendments to the Federal sentencing guidelines as 

25 the Commission determines necessary to achieve 


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1 consistency with other guideline provisions and ap2 plicable law. 

3 SEC. 6. REPORT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL. 

4 Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to the Com6 mittees on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives 

7 and the Senate a report outlining how the reduced expend8 itures on Federal corrections and the cost savings result9 ing from this Act will be used to help reduce overcrowding 

10 in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, help increase proper in11 vestment in law enforcement and crime prevention, and 

12 help reduce criminal recidivism, thereby increasing the ef13 fectiveness of Federal criminal justice spending. 

14 SEC. 7. REPORT ON FEDERAL CRIMINAL OFFENSES. 

15 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

16 (1) the term ‘‘criminal regulatory offense’’ 

17 means a Federal regulation that is enforceable by a 

18 criminal penalty; and 

19 (2) the term ‘‘criminal statutory offense’’ 

20 means a criminal offense under a Federal statute. 

21 (b) REPORT ON CRIMINAL STATUTORY OFFENSES.— 

22 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

23 Act, the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee 

24 on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the 


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1 Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report, which 

2 shall include— 

3 (1) a list of all criminal statutory offenses, in4 cluding a list of the elements for each criminal stat5 utory offense; and 

6 (2) for each criminal statutory offense listed 

7 under paragraph (1)— 

8 (A) the potential criminal penalty for the 

9 criminal statutory offense; 

10 (B) the number of prosecutions for the 

11 criminal statutory offense brought by the De12 partment of Justice each year for the 15-year 

13 period preceding the date of enactment of this 

14 Act; and 

15 (C) the mens rea requirement for the 

16 criminal statutory offense. 

17 (c) REPORT ON CRIMINAL REGULATORY OF18 FENSES.— 

19 (1) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the head of each Fed21 eral agency described in paragraph (2) shall submit 

22 to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 

23 the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of 

24 Representatives a report, which shall include— 


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1 (A) a list of all criminal regulatory of2 fenses enforceable by the agency; and 

3 (B) for each criminal regulatory offense 

4 listed under subparagraph (A)— 

5 (i) the potential criminal penalty for a 

6 violation of the criminal regulatory offense; 

7 (ii) the number of violations of the 

8 criminal regulatory offense referred to the 

9 Department of Justice for prosecution in 

10 each of the years during the 15-year period 

11 preceding the date of enactment of this 

12 Act; and 

13 (iii) the mens rea requirement for the 

14 criminal regulatory offense. 

15 (2) AGENCIES DESCRIBED.—The Federal agen16 cies described in this paragraph are the Department 

17 of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the 

18 Department of Education, the Department of En19 ergy, the Department of Health and Human Serv20 ices, the Department of Homeland Security, the De21 partment of Housing and Urban Development, the 

22 Department of the Interior, the Department of 

23 Labor, the Department of Transportation, the De24 partment of the Treasury, the Commodity Futures 

25 Trading Commission, the Consumer Product Safety 


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1 Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity 

2 Commission, the Export-Import Bank of the United 

3 States, the Farm Credit Administration, the Federal 

4 Communications Commission, the Federal Deposit 

5 Insurance Corporation, the Federal Election Com6 mission, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the 

7 Federal Maritime Commission, the Federal Mine 

8 Safety and Health Review Commission, the Federal 

9 Trade Commission, the National Labor Relations 

10 Board, the National Transportation Safety Board, 

11 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Occupa12 tional Safety and Health Review Commission, the 

13 Office of Compliance, the Postal Regulatory Com14 mission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, 

15 the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, the 

16 Environmental Protection Agency, the Small Busi17 ness Administration, the Federal Housing Finance 

18 Agency, and the Office of Government Ethics. 

19 (d) INDEX.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act— 

21 (1) the Attorney General shall establish a pub22 lically accessible index of each criminal statutory of23 fense listed in the report required under subsection 

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1 sible on the website of the Department of Justice; 

2 and 

3 (2) the head of each agency described in sub4 section (c)(2) shall establish a publically accessible 

5 index of each criminal regulatory offense listed in 

6 the report required under subsection (c)(1) and 

7 make the index available and freely accessible on the 

8 website of the agency. 

9 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec10 tion shall be construed to require or authorize appropria11 tions. 

Æ 


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