Al Regnery on Republicans’ Sentencing Reform Bill: ‘Too Many Innocent People Will Get Hurt If This Bill Gets Passed’

US authorities said the fire swept through a half-way house for ex-prisoners
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Alfred S. Regnery joined Breitbart News Daily SiriusXM host Stephen K. Bannon Monday morning to discuss a troubling sentencing reduction bill currently making its way through Congress in part with help from some conservatives — adding Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell must be convinced not to bring it up.

“Too many innocent people will get hurt if this bill gets passed,” said Regnery. “There’s no question, if you look at the data, if this bill is passed, there are going to be tens of thousands of more multiple, chronic, violent offenders that are going to be let out on the street.”

“The Left admits, even the ones that aren’t the radical Angela Davis types, the intellectual left-wingers will say that, in order to let the people that shouldn’t be in jail out, we’re going to have to let out a lot of violent criminals as well,” he continued.

Regnery says the best possible move now is to put pressure on McConnell to prevent the bill from coming up for a vote this year.

“One thing that needs to happen that didn’t, Congress needs to have some serious hearings about it,” he said.

“They jammed it through. Mitch McConnell has to be convinced not to bring it up. And he’s pretty much on our side on it,” he added.  “The best thing that can happen, people can contact their representatives, particularly McConnell, saying don’t bring this bill up this year. Oppose it because if they hear from our side, it’s going to make a tremendous difference.”

As Regnery has pointed out, the bill has been hijacked by the Left and will end up putting many dangerous criminals back on the street.

Too many conservatives, invested heavily in the idea of reforming the criminal justice system, have gone along with the liberal effort to return serious chronic felons to the streets. There is no question that there are plenty of problems with the criminal justice system and that the reform effort is legitimate and well-intentioned. Congress has over-criminalized the laws, many laws do not include a requirement for mens rea (a guilty mind, or intent to commit a crime), and often, particularly under state law, low-level offenders are incarcerated who would not be, to name a few.

But legislation pending in both houses of Congress would reduce many mandatory minimum sentences imposed for serious crimes, many committed with a firearm, often involving chronic, violent offenders. It would also retroactively reduce sentencing provisions of The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, signed by Bill Clinton, which resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of thousands of violent criminals. The result would be to retroactively reduce penalties for thousands of serial armed career criminals including carjackers, bank robbers and kidnappers, reduce penalties for repeat high-level drug traffickers and weaken tools used by federal prosecutors to dismantle drug trafficking organizations.

Over the past several years, the U.S. Sentencing Commission has ordered the release of thousands of serious criminals from federal prison, and in 2014 reduced the guidelines for all drug traffickers, regardless of the type of drug, criminal history, history of violence, gang or cartel ties making over 46,000 convicted drug traffickers eligible for early release. It is estimated that the bills now pending in Congress could make another 12,000 eligible for early release.

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