One of the great achievements of recent years was the declining crime rate in America. This came at a time of mandatory sentencing and increased numbers of criminals in prison instead of on the streets. (It also came at a time of rapidly-growing gun ownership, contradicting a favorite liberal explanation of crime.)

Now some Republicans in Congress are teaming up with President Obama and the Black Lives Matter movement to reverse course by reducing sentences and putting many of those criminals back on the street before their sentences end. The FBI has already reported a recent uptick in violent crime, murder and rape as the “Ferguson effect” began to have an impact on law enforcement. Imagine how much worse it could be if that is reinforced by releasing thousands from Federal prisons.

If we could count on the Republican majority in Congress to protect us, we would have nothing to fear. In fact, however, leading Congressional Republicans are working hand-in-hand with Democrats to put this bill on President Obama’s desk for his signature.

The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (S. 2123) has nineteen Democratic cosponsors as well as “Republicans” such as Mark Kirk, Lindsay Graham, and Jerry Moran. President Obama endorsed it in his State of the Union message. And unfortunately, even Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley has given it his support and pushed it through his committee. It could be quickly brought to the floor for a vote at almost any time.

Advocates of the bill make it sound harmless, as when The New York Times assured readers that it was mostly “focused on low-level, nonviolent drug offenders”. Readers may think this refers to people arrested for drug possession, but in fact almost all drug offenders in Federal prison are there for selling drugs.

A more accurate view of the bill comes from the men and women who prosecuted these criminals. The National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys (NAAUSA) had this to say about the bill. “Our sentencing system has helped bring crime rates down 50% in a single generation. There are over five million fewer serious crimes per year now than there were a quarter century ago, and more than ten thousand fewer murders. We should welcome and build on this startling success, rather than do what today’s bill would do: weaken the ability of federal prosecutors to bring drug dealers to justice and prematurely release thousands of previously convicted drug traffickers and violent felons. With a recidivism rate of over 75%, we already know what shorter sentences and earlier release will mean: More crime faster.”

NAAUSA describes drug-dealing as “inherently violent” and even supporters of the bill concede that 16% of convictions for drug-dealing involved the use of a weapon. How many drug dealers have used a weapon without getting caught is, of course, unknown, but NAAUSA considers it to be a necessary practice for them to stay in business.

Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Jeff Sessions of Alabama have been leading the fight in the Senate to stop this bill. Sessions has pointed out that the illegal aliens who killed three Americans had been convicted of crimes for which S 2123 provides early release. Cotton has warned about the long-term consequences of reducing sentences for future offenders in addition to the immediate harm of early release. He has called for continuing “a strategy that has a proven record of success, not just in terms of crime rates, but in terms of lives saved, families protected, and communities healed.”

Washington insiders of both parties are determined to push through this bill. It is one more example of why the leadership of the Republican Party must be changed.

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