Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights: Congress, stand up for civil rights"

[Empowerer]

Congress, stand up for civil rights
By Barbara R. Arnwine and Stephanie J. Jones, Special to CNN
Tue August 20, 2013

{snip} Some of the most important turning points in the struggle for justice have occurred when individuals in our three branches of government courageously did the right thing by standing up against injustice.
In the 1960s, Attorney General Robert Kennedy marshaled the power of the federal government to protect protesters at pivotal moments in the civil rights movement. Rep. Charles "Mac" Mathias, a Maryland Republican, bucked his party and reached across the aisle to help draft the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Alabama Federal District Court Judge Frank Johnson and the judges of the old Fifth Circuit helped to end legal segregation and enforce voting rights in the South despite much resistance.

Last week, in the midst of our preparations for the 50th anniversary commemoration of the 1963 March on Washington, the civil rights community was heartened to see two modern-day versions of this kind of courage and commitment to justice. Attorney General Eric Holder and Federal District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin landed a one-two blow against mandatory minimums and "stop and frisk" racial profiling.
. . .
We received a strong message from the executive and judicial branches. It is now time for the third branch of government -- Congress -- to adopt measures that address crime while protecting civil and human rights.
...

Congress should close this gap and take steps toward correcting and preventing the corrosive impact of mandatory minimums by passing the bipartisan Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013. Among other things, this act would make the Fair Sentencing Act retroactive to persons currently serving time for nonviolent drug crimes by allowing them to petition the courts for a review of their case. The bill would also reduce mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, and give judges more discretion to determine sentences in nonviolent drug cases, enabling them to tailor the sentence to fit the particular crime and individual offender rather than forcing them to impose a "one size fits all" penalty.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/20/opinion/arnwine-jones-justice/index.html?hpt=op_t1