FIX Clemency Act introduced in US House seeking to fix broken federal clemency process

As reported in this new Insider article, headlined “Congressional progressives back new bill to radically change the ‘broken’ clemency system,” today a notable new federal bill was introduced seeking to fix the federal sentencing process.  Here are the basics:

The “FIX Clemency Act,” introduced Friday by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat from Massachusetts, calls for a nine-person board that would be responsible for reviewing petitions for clemency and issuing recommendations directly to the president. The recommendations would also be made public in an annual report to Congress. At least one member of the panel would be someone who was previously incarcerated.

“Clemency works, but the current system is broken and denies thousands of people the chance of redemption and justice,” Pressley told Insider. “It is long overdue that the president uses his clemency authority to address the generations of systemic injustices that have created the mass incarceration crisis,” she said, arguing that her bill was a “critical” part of that effort.

The proposal, endorsed by the ACLU and the NAACP, comes as advocates of clemency reform are increasingly frustrated with the administration. Since taking office, President Joe Biden has not used his clemency power — a fact that is not unusual at this point in a new presidency, but a disappointment to those who see it as an area where the White House can immediately and unilaterally reform the criminal justice system….

The bill introduced Friday would eliminate the Office of the Pardon Attorney, transferring its functions to the new board, and guarantee that all requests for pardon or commutation be reviewed within 18 months. Members of the new panel would include a representative from the Department of Justice, but also someone who has worked for a federal public defenders office.

During the 2020 campaign, a “unity” task force composed of Biden supporters and backers of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders recommended the creation of an independent clemency review board. The proposal is also in the Democratic Party’s platform.

So far, however, the administration has given no indication that it endorses the reform. And its liberal critics say the federal criminal justice system is headed in the wrong direction. “2021 marks the first increase in 8 years of our federal prison population — that’s nearly a decade of progress that has been wiped out,” Rep. Cori Bush, a Democrat from Missouri and cosponsor of the new legislation, said in a statement….

“Fueled by the failed war on drugs, the mass incarceration epidemic that our nation faces has ruined lives, families and communities,” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat who leads the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement. “Our broken clemency system only deepens this pain, and we must transform it in a just, equitable and transparent manner.”

Via Rep. Presssly’s official website, here are links for the Bill Text and Bill Summary for this quite interesting and important bill.  This press release from that office, titled “Bill Establishes Independent U.S. Clemency Board to Review Applications, Transmit Recommendations Directly to President,” starts this way:

Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), along with Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01), Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08) and grassroots advocates, unveiled the Fair and Independent Experts in Clemency (FIX Clemency) Act, historic legislation to transform our nation’s broken clemency system and address the growing mass incarceration crisis.