TROY DAVIS & MUMIA ABU ~JAMAL ~ ARE HAVING PRAYERS FOR JUSTICE SAID FOR THEM WORLD~WIDE .. : AZ IMC

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THE NATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMISSION ACT OF 2009

The National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009 that I introduced in the Senate on March 26, 2009 will create a blue-ribbon commission to look at every aspect of our criminal justice system with an eye toward reshaping the process from top to bottom. I believe that it is time to bring together the best minds in America to confer, report, and make concrete recommendations about how we can reform the process. This legislation has already garnered wide bipartisan support in Congress and from interest groups representing a range of backgrounds and political viewpoints.

Why We Urgently Need this Legislation:

With 5% of the world's population, our country now houses 25% of the world's reported prisoners.
Incarcerated drug offenders have soared 1200% since 1980.
Four times as many mentally ill people are in prisons than in mental health hospitals.
Approximately 1 million gang members reside in the U.S., many of them foreign-based; and Mexican cartels operate in 230+ communities across the country.
Post-incarceration re-entry programs are haphazard and often nonexistent, undermining public safety and making it extremely difficult for ex-offenders to become full, contributing members of society.

America's criminal justice system has deteriorated to the point that it is a national disgrace. Its irregularities and inequities cut against the notion that we are a society founded on fundamental fairness. Our failure to address this problem has caused the nation's prisons to burst their seams with massive overcrowding, even as our neighborhoods have become more dangerous. We are wasting billions of dollars and diminishing millions of lives.

We need to fix the system. Doing so will require a major nationwide recalculation of who goes to prison and for how long and of how we address the long-term consequences of incarceration.

MATERIALS & RESOURCES

Read the legislation, S. 714
Fact sheet on the legislation
Senator Webb's floor speech introducing the legislation
PARADE Magazine cover story, "What's Wrong with our Prisons?" Senator Jim Webb, Sunday March 29, 2009
The scope of the problem: relevant charts and graphs
List of Support for the National Criminal Justice Commission Act Of 2009
Opening Statement of Sen. Webb at Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing on National Criminal Justice Commission Act, June 11, 2009
Watch Senator Webb's Floor Speech Introducing the Legislation, March 26, 2009
Senator Webb's article on the Huffington Post, "Why We Must Reform Our Criminal Justice System"

MATERIALS FROM PAST HEARINGS, SYMPOSIUMS

Joint Economic Committee Hearing, conducted by Senator Webb, "Mass Incarceration in the United States: At What Cost?" October 2007
Joint Economic Committee Hearing, conducted by Senator Webb, "Illegal Drugs: Economic Impact, Societal Costs, and Policy Responses," June 2008
George Mason University Symposium, hosted by Senator Webb and the GMU Administration of Justice Department, "Drugs in America: Trafficking, Policy and Sentencing," October 2008
Senator Webb's Keynote Address to the Brookings Institution's Policy Roundtable on the Challenges to Prisoner Re-entry, December 2008

NEWS ARTICLES & COMMENTARY
Virginian Pilot editorial: "Time to reconsider U.S. justice system," April 6, 2009
Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star: "Behind-bars review," April 5, 2009
The Washington Post Writers Group: "Webb Leads the Charge for Much-Needed Drug, Prison Reform," April 5, 2009
Economist: "A Nation of Jailbirds," April 2, 2009
Daily Press: "Go After the Real Problem," March 31, 2009
New York Times: "Reviewing Criminal Justice," March 30, 2009
Lynchburg News & Advance: "Webb Takes on Politics' Third Rail: Prison Reform," March 29, 2009
Salon.com: "Jim Webb's courage v. the "pragmatism" excuse for politicians," March 28, 2009
The Virginian Pilot Editorial: "Time to Rethink Goals of Prison," January 5, 2009
Roanoke Times Editorial: "The Criminal Justice System Needs Help," January 5, 2009
Las Vegas Sun Editorial: "Voice for Broken Prisons," January 3, 2009
U.S. News & World Report: "James Webb Shows Leadership Regarding Prison Reform," January 2, 2009
New York Times Editorial: "Sen. Webb's Call for Prison Reform," January 1, 2009
Washington Post: "Webb Sets His Sights On Prison Reform," December 29, 2008
Daily Press: "Alternative to Jail for Addicts Gains New Supporter," December 28, 2008
The Virginian Pilot: "Senator Elevates Debate on Failed Drug, Prison Policies," October 18, 2008
The Roanoke Times Editorial: "A Sensible Call for Sentencing Reform," October 13, 2008
Washington Post Op-Ed: "Two Separate Societies: One in Prison, One Not," April 15, 2008
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