The chair of the U.S. Judicial Conference Criminal Law Committee has written in support of Congress’s efforts “to review and ameliorate the deleterious and unwanted consequences spawned by mandatory minimum sentencing provisions.”

The letter from Judge Robert Holmes Bell was prompted by a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on September 18 on reevaluating the effectiveness of federal mandatory minimum sentences. The Judicial Conference has a long-standing policy of opposing mandatory minimum sentences.

In his letter, Bell also expressed “strong support” for legislation such as the “Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013” that would help avoid the fiscal and social costs associated with mandatory minimums.

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