HR0544LRB098 13014 RLC 47522 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The United States has the highest incarceration
3rate of any country in the world; and
 
4    WHEREAS, With over 2,300,000 men and women living behind
5bars, our imprisonment rate is the highest it has ever been in
6United States history; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Despite the high incarceration rate in the United
8States, our criminal justice system is not cost effective,
9disproportionately impacts minorities and the poor, and does
10not enhance public safety; and
 
11    WHEREAS, On August 1, 2013, Senators Dick Durbin and Mike
12Lee introduced S. 1410, the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013; and
 
13    WHEREAS, The bill seeks to modernize federal drug
14sentencing laws by lowering mandatory minimum sentences for
15persons convicted of non-violent drug offenses; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The bill would apply the Fair Sentencing Act
17retroactively, an Act enacted in 2010 that reduced the
18sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine, by
19allowing the courts to review the sentences of persons
20convicted under the prior cocaine laws that were determined by

 

 

HR0544- 2 -LRB098 13014 RLC 47522 r

1Congress to be unjust and racially disparate to determine
2whether those persons convicted deserve sentences consistent
3with current law; therefore, be it
 
4    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
5NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
6we congratulate Senator Durbin for introducing the Smarter
7Sentencing Act of 2013 and urge Congress to pass the bill; and
8be it further
 
9    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
10presented to the Speaker of the United States House of
11Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States
12Senate, and each member of the Illinois congressional
13delegation.