NAPO Washington Reports

NAPO attends the Monthly National Criminal Justice Association Brown Bag

September 9, 2013
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Today, NAPO attended the monthly National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA) Brown Bag.  The meeting provided NAPO with the opportunity to inform fellow law enforcement organizations of the National Blue Alert Act of 2013 (S.357), which is scheduled to be marked up by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, September 12, 2013.  NAPO requested Brown Bag participants consider signing-on to the National Blue Alert Act letter of support, and offered to provide organization representatives with any information necessary as they consider signing-on to the letter.

Additionally, Mr. Troy Stock, with Congressman Jason Chaffetz’s (R-UT) office, and Ms. Ashley McDonald, with Congressman Bobby Scott’s (D-VA) Judiciary Committee, joined the group to discuss a new federal prison reform bill, the Public Safety Enhancement Act of 2013 (H.R. 2656).  The bill would implement a post-sentencing risk-assessment system to identify an inmate’s risk of recidivism, which would allow resources to be targeted to those inmates who are most likely to be responsive to intervention.  The following includes the main tenets of the bill, (which is still in draft form):

  • The bipartisan legislation uses risk assessment tools to reduce recidivism, lower the crime rate, and decrease the amount of money spent on the federal prison system.
  • The Attorney General would be directed to consult with appropriate federal agencies and stakeholders to design, develop, implement, and regularly upgrade an actuarial Post Sentencing Risk Assessment System.
  • Prisoners would be divided into high, moderate, or low risks of recidivism.
  • Prisoners would be periodically re-evaluated and have the opportunity to progress to low risk recidivism. 
  • Prisoners would be incentivized to reduce their individual risk of recidivism by participating in, and completing recidivism reduction programs.
  • Prisoners who committed serious crimes would not eligible for the program.
  • Low risk prisoners would be eligible for consideration for prerelease custody, such as a halfway house, home confinement, or ankle bracelet.

Finally, the group discussed the importance of the King-Thompson / Manchin-Toomey Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act (H.R. 1565), which would  require anyone buying a gun at a gun show to undergo a background check by a licensed dealer and require purchasers buying guns online to undergo a background check by a licensed dealer.  NAPO pledged its support for this piece of legislation in May 2013, and will continue to engage members of Congress to urge that the bill be passed.

If you have any questions about any of the topics covered during today’s NCJA Brown Bag, please contact Melissa Nee at:  mnee@napo.org.

Source:

United States. Cong. House. The Public Safety Enhancement Act of 2013. By Jason Chaffetz and Bobby Scott. 113

Cong. HR 2656. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.