Feds Ready to Tackle Questions of Crime?
Wed Jul 28, 10:13am
Jordan Smith
The Austin Chronicle
Federal lawmakers on Tuesday took another step forward toward creating a commission to review the nation's criminal justice system - the first such review in more than 40 years.
The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday voted in favor of the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2010, a bipartisan measure carried by Massachusetts Rep. Bill Delahunt, and joined by 27 other lawmakers including Central Texas' own GOP Rep. Lamar Smith (noticeably absent from the list of co-sponsors is Austin Dem Rep. Lloyd Doggett and Houston's Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee). The measure calls for a comprehensive review of the criminal justice system, including federal, state, local and tribal systems, to ensure fairness and cost-effectiveness.
If the measure passes, which it is ultimately expected to do, it would be the first comprehensive system review since the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration and Justice was established in 1965.
