Title: Mandatory Minimum Reform Act of 2017
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Mandatory Minimum Reform Act of 2017
This bill amends the Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to eliminate most drug offense mandatory minimum prison terms imposed on a defendant who imports, exports, manufactures, distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Additionally, it eliminates drug offense mandatory minimum prison terms for simple possession, distribution to an individual under age 21 by an individual at least age 18, distribution or manufacture in a school zone, and use of an individual under age 18 to distribute.
Finally, the bill requires prior written approval of the Attorney General to prosecute a defendant for certain drug offenses that involve low-level drug quantities (e.g., less than one kilogram of heroin or less than 500 grams of cocaine-based substances).

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3800 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3800

    To eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for all drug offenses.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 14, 2017

 Ms. Maxine Waters of California (for herself, Ms. Norton, Mr. Pocan, 
  Ms. Lee, and Mr. Ellison) introduced the following bill; which was 
  referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 
   Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for all drug offenses.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Mandatory Minimum Reform Act of 
2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Mandatory minimum sentences are statutorily prescribed 
        terms of imprisonment that automatically attach upon conviction 
        of certain criminal conduct, often pertaining to drug offenses. 
        Absent very narrow criteria for relief, a sentencing judge is 
        powerless to mandate a term of imprisonment below the mandatory 
        minimum. Mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses rely 
        solely upon the weight of the substance as a proxy for the 
        defendant's role and degree of involvement.
            (2) In the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, and at the height 
        of the public concern over crack cocaine, Congress acted 
        hastily, without sufficient hearings, and enacted hard line 
        penalties that targeted low-level drug offenders. These 
        penalties included new, long mandatory minimum sentences for 
        such offenders.
            (3) According to the Bureau of Prisons, in 1986, when the 
        new drug law containing lengthy mandatory minimum sentences 
        passed, the prison population was 36,000. Today, the Federal 
        prison population is over 187,000 prisoners, up over 400 
        percent in 31 years.
            (4) According to the Bureau of Prisons, the average cost to 
        keep one prisoner in Federal prison for the fiscal year of 2015 
        was $31,977.65, which equates to $87.61 per day.
            (5) Annual spending on the Federal prison system rose by 
        over 600 percent, from roughly $966,000,000 to more than $6.9 
        billion in inflation-adjusted dollars, between 1980 and 2015.
            (6) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, between 
        1995 and 2010, over 400,000 drug offenders were sentenced under 
        Federal law; of these, almost 250,000 (61 percent) received 
        mandatory minimum sentences.
            (7) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, drug 
        offenders released from prison in 1986 who had been sentenced 
        before the adoption of mandatory sentences and sentencing 
        guidelines had served an average of 22 months in prison. In 
        fiscal year 2016, the average sentence for drug offenders 
        subject to a mandatory minimum penalty at sentencing was more 
        than 10 years (with relief, 64 months).
            (8) In fiscal year 2016, many of those offenders convicted 
        of an offense carrying a mandatory minimum sentence were 
        nonviolent or low-level offenders. According to the U.S. 
        Sentencing Commission, only 28.7 percent of convictions for 
        drug trafficking offenses carrying a mandatory minimum penalty 
        involved the use of a weapon, violence or threats of violence. 
        Only 11.7 percent of offenders convicted of such offenses 
        played a leadership role.
            (9) Mandatory minimum sentences have historically been 
        shown to have a disproportionate impact on African Americans. 
        The United States Sentencing Commission, in a 15-year overview 
        of the Federal sentencing system, concluded that ``mandatory 
        penalty statutes are used inconsistently'' and 
        disproportionately affect African-American defendants. 
        According to another United States Sentencing Commission 
        report, in fiscal year 2016, of the 8,342 offenders who were 
        subject to a Federal mandatory minimum penalty at sentencing, 
        Black offenders were the largest group, representing 35.5 
        percent, followed by White offenders, who represented 31.1 
        percent, and Hispanic offenders, who represented 30.9 percent.
            (10) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, between 
        1994 and 2003, the average time served by African Americans for 
        a drug offense increased by 62 percent, compared to a 17-
        percent increase among White drug defendants.
            (11) According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
        Services Administration, surveys have documented that drug use 
        is roughly consistent across racial and ethnic groups. While 
        there is less data available regarding drug sellers, research 
        from the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the 
        National Institute of Justice has found that drug users 
        generally buy drugs from someone of their own racial or ethnic 
        background. But, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, 
        about 74.4 percent of all drug offenders sentenced in 2016 were 
        African American and Hispanic, many of whom are low-level 
        offenders.
            (12) As a result of Federal prosecutors' focus on low-level 
        drug offenders, the overwhelming majority of individuals 
        subject to the heightened crack cocaine penalties are African 
        American. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, in 
        fiscal year 2016, of those offenders sentenced on Federal crack 
        cocaine charges, only 5.5 percent were White, while 82.6 
        percent and 11.4 percent were African American and Hispanic, 
        respectively.
            (13) According to the U.S. Census, African Americans 
        comprise 13.3 percent of the U.S. population, but according to 
        the U.S. Sentencing Commission, in fiscal year 2016, African 
        Americans made up about 23.6 percent of all Federal drug 
        convictions.
            (14) According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the 
        Department of Justice, by 2003, African Americans, on average, 
        now serve almost as much time in Federal prison for a drug 
        offense (58.7 months) as Whites do for a violent offense (61.7 
        months).
            (15) According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, in fiscal 
        year 2016, about 34.6 percent of women entering Federal prison 
        did so for a drug offense. Linking drug quantity with 
        punishment severity has had a particularly profound impact on 
        women, who are historically more likely to play peripheral 
        roles in a drug enterprise than men. However, because 
        prosecutors can attach drug quantities to an individual 
        regardless of the level of a defendant's participation in the 
        charged offense, women have been exposed to increasingly 
        punitive sentences.
            (16) Low-level and mid-level drug offenders can be 
        adequately prosecuted by the States and punished or supervised 
        in treatment as appropriate.
            (17) Congress has an obligation to taxpayers to use 
        sentencing policies that are cost-effective and increase public 
        safety, in addition to establishing a criminal justice system 
        that is fair, efficient, and provides just sentences for 
        offenders. Mandatory sentences have not been conclusively shown 
        to reduce recidivism or deter crime.
            (18) The limited resources in the Federal criminal justice 
        system should be used to protect society by incapacitating 
        dangerous and violent offenders who pose a threat to public 
        safety.
            (19) The Federal judiciary has the expertise and is in the 
        best position to sentence each offender and determine who 
        should be sent to Federal prisons and the amount of time each 
        offender should serve.

SEC. 3. APPROVAL OF CERTAIN PROSECUTIONS BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.

    A Federal prosecution for an offense under the Controlled 
Substances Act, the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act, or for 
any conspiracy to commit such an offense, where the offense involves 
the illegal distribution or possession of a controlled substance in an 
amount less than that amount specified as a minimum for an offense 
under section 401(b)(1)(A) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 
841(b)(1)(A)) or, in the case of any substance containing cocaine or 
cocaine base, in an amount less than 500 grams, shall not be commenced 
without the prior written approval of the Attorney General.

SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN SENTENCING PROVISIONS.

    (a) Section 404.--Section 404(a) of the Controlled Substances Act 
(21 U.S.C. 844(a)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``not less than 15 days but'';
            (2) by striking ``not less than 90 days but''; and
            (3) by striking the sentence beginning ``The imposition or 
        execution of a minimum sentence''.
    (b) Section 401.--Section 401(b) of the Controlled Substances Act 
(21 U.S.C. 841(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(A)--
                    (A) by striking ``which may not be less than 10 
                years and or more than'' and inserting ``for any term 
                of years or for'';
                    (B) by striking ``and if death or serious bodily 
                injury results from the use of such substance shall not 
                be less than 20 years or more than life'';
                    (C) by striking ``which may not be less than 20 
                years and not more than life imprisonment and if death 
                or serious bodily injury results from the use of such 
                substance shall be sentenced to imprisonment for any 
                term of years or for life imprisonment'' and inserting 
                ``for any term of years or for life'';
                    (D) by striking the sentence beginning ``If any 
                person commits a violation of this subparagraph''; and
                    (E) by striking the sentence beginning 
                ``Notwithstanding any other provision of law'' and the 
                sentence beginning ``No person sentenced'';
            (2) in paragraph (1)(B)--
                    (A) by striking ``which may not be less than 5 
                years and'' and inserting ``for'';
                    (B) by striking ``not less than 20 years or more 
                than,'' and inserting ``for any term or years or for'';
                    (C) by striking ``which may not be less than 10 
                years and not more than'' and inserting ``for any term 
                of years or for'';
                    (D) by inserting ``imprisonment for any term of 
                years or for'' after ``if death or serious bodily 
                injury results from the use of such substance shall be 
                sentenced to''; and
                    (E) by striking the sentence beginning 
                ``Notwithstanding any other provision of law'' and the 
                sentence beginning ``No person sentenced''; and
            (3) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ``of not less than 
        twenty years or more than life'' and inserting ``for any term 
        of years or to life imprisonment''.
    (c) Section 1010.--Section 1010(b) of the Controlled Substances 
Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``of not less than 10 years and not 
                more than'' and inserting ``for any term of years or 
                for'';
                    (B) by striking ``and if death'' the first place it 
                appears and all that follows through ``20 years and not 
                more than life'' the first place it appears;
                    (C) by striking ``of not less than 20 years and not 
                more than life imprisonment'' and inserting ``for any 
                term of years or for life'';
                    (D) by striking ``and if death or serious bodily 
                injury results from the use of such substance shall be 
                sentenced to life imprisonment''; and
                    (E) by striking the sentence beginning 
                ``Notwithstanding any other provision of law'' and the 
                sentence beginning ``No person sentenced'';
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) by striking ``not less than 5 years and'';
                    (B) by striking ``of not less than twenty years and 
                not more than'' and inserting ``for any term of years 
                or for'';
                    (C) by striking ``of not less than 10 years and not 
                more than'' and inserting ``for any term of years or 
                to'';
                    (D) by striking ``and if death or serious bodily 
                injury results from the use of such substance shall be 
                sentenced to life imprisonment''; and
                    (E) by striking the sentence beginning 
                ``Notwithstanding any other provision of law'' and the 
                sentence beginning ``No person sentenced''; and
            (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ``of not less than twenty 
        years and not more than life'' and inserting ``for any term or 
        years or for life''.
    (d) Section 418.--Section 418 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 
U.S.C. 859) is amended by striking the sentence beginning ``Except to 
the extent'' each place it appears and by striking the sentence 
beginning ``The mandatory minimum''.
    (e) Section 419.--Section 419 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 
U.S.C. 860) is amended--
            (1) by striking the sentence beginning ``Except to the 
        extent'' each place it appears and by striking the sentence 
        beginning ``The mandatory minimum''; and
            (2) by striking subsection (d).
    (f) Section 420.--Section 420 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 
U.S.C. 861) is amended--
            (1) in each of subsections (b) and (c), by striking the 
        sentence beginning ``Except to the extent'';
            (2) by striking subsection (e); and
            (3) in subsection (f), by striking ``, (c), and (e)'' and 
        inserting ``and (c)''.
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