Corrections and
Congress:
2011 in Review
By Eric Schultz
The 112th Congress has now
concluded its first session and is headed into a
presidential election year, when the tone of debate can be
even more contentious then usual and votes will most
certainly be criticized and critiqued throughout the year.
As the November elections draw closer, it can be expected
that fewer and fewer votes of consequence will be held and
the likely passage of legislation will decrease
dramatically. Of course, “noncontroversial” bills may get
through, but any disagreement between Democrats and
Republicans, or between the House and Senate, will kill a
bill for sure.
2011 was not a particularly
productive year for Congress in terms of criminal justice
issues, a point that has been reflected repeatedly in
polling. Congress’ approval rating is as low as it has ever
been. Congress did pass the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS)
Appropriations bill as part of a “minibus” package of
appropriations bills prior to the end of the year. Despite
the need for drastic cuts in federal funding, programs
nearest and dearest to corrections were cut modestly and/or
received adequate-to-healthy funding from Congress.
The Second Chance Act programs
will receive $63 million in funding, while the Mentally Ill
Offenders Treatment and Crime Reduction Act programs will
receive $9 million in funding. Funding for justice
reinvestment programs will come from the Byrne-JAG program
and receive $6 million, $2 million less than fiscal year
2011.
The Byrne-JAG program rose
from $431 million to $470 million in funding. The State
Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), which provides
reimbursement to the states for housing alien offenders, was
cut from $274 million to $240 million — a 27 percent cut.
However, SCAAP was targeted by the administration for
significantly deeper cuts. The Residential Substance Abuse
Treatment program was cut from $25 million to $10 million.
Funding for prison rape prevention and prosecution programs
was maintained at $13 million.
Overall, juvenile justice
programs were cut from $276 million to $263 million. State
formula grants were reduced from $60 million to $40 million,
delinquency prevention programs were cut from $54 million to
$20 million and the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant
program was cut from $46 million to $30 million.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t
much legislative activity in this Congress on issues of
substance to the corrections profession. Congress failed to
make any progress on the Second Chance Reauthorization Act (SCRA)
or the National Criminal Justice Commission Act (the Webb
bill) and neither the Justice Reinvestment Act nor the Safe
Prisons Communications Act was introduced in the first
session. SCRA has been reported out of the Senate Judiciary
Committee but was not brought up for a vote in the Senate.
The Webb bill was offered as an amendment to the CJS
Appropriations bill but the amendment was defeated. It was
not reported out of committee.
In September, the Government
Accountability Office (GAO) completed and published its
report, Improved Evaluations and Increased Coordination
Could Improve Cell Phone Detection. The report confirmed
that the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is experiencing
problems with contraband cell phones. The number of
confiscated phones is increasing and they pose a serious
safety risk to inmates, staff and the public. GAO also
recommended that BOP further enhance its assessments of
available technologies, and that it should leverage what has
already been learned by the states before it adopts any
different technologies.
The Deaths in Custody
Reporting Act passed in the House overwhelmingly as it did
in the 111th Congress. It was reported out of the Senate
Judiciary Committee in November, and is the one bill with
significance to corrections that is most likely to pass and
become a law in this Congress. The bill simply requires
states that receive certain criminal justice grants to
report quarterly any deaths that occur in their systems to
the attorney general.
In June, the Senate passed the
Presidential Appointments Efficiency and Streamlining Act.
The bill would exclude several positions from the
constitutional requirement of “advise and consent” of the
Senate, including the directors of the Bureau of Justice
Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National
Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention and the Office for Victims of Crime.
In October, Congress passed and the president signed the
U.S. Parole Commission Extension Act into law, thus
extending the Parole Commission for another three years.
The House Judiciary Committee
did not prioritize correctional issues much in 2011, nor did
the Senate Judiciary Committee. The House committee did hold
a hearing in October on federal sentencing and the U.S.
Sentencing Commission. Perhaps the most significant hearing
in 2011 for the corrections profession was one held by the
House Homeland Security Committee in June on “The Threat of
Muslim-American Radicalization in U.S. Prisons.” The hearing
was one of several held relating to Muslim Americans and
terrorism. The focus of this hearing was whether or not
prisons are grounds for radicalization of Muslims and for
terrorist recruitment.
Moving forward into 2012, it
is difficult to foresee passage and enactment of any
legislation of consequence or significance for corrections.
While it is possible that the Webb bill could pass, because
it is largely noncontroversial and has a very modest cost
associated with it, it is more likely the bill will be
approved as an amendment to larger legislation. Moreover,
with Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., retiring at the end of this year,
passage is somewhat critical. SCRA may find light in the
Senate, but support for passage in the House in an election
year is uncertain.
Eric Schultz is ACA’s director of government affairs.
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