Will Congress pass sentencing reform in 2016? How far would that take us toward ending mass incarceration?

A Town Hall Discussion

In recent days, dozens of citizens have told their stories here on Medium about America’s broken criminal justice system. When Russell Simmons, Cory Booker, and Mark Holden of Koch Industries agree that mass incarceration must end, it’s clear that “tough on crime” politics are fading away.

Across America, neighborhoods and city streets are safer than they have been in decades. States in every region of the country have taken steps to scale back harsh criminal penalties while maintaining public safety.

In Congress, bipartisan leaders have introduced the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, which would reduce prison sentences for low-level drug crimes and address racial disparities in the federal prison system. The legislation would also provide sentence-reduction incentives for prisoners who take part in rehabilitative programming.

In this Town Hall discussion, we’ll hear from a panel of experts — including Michael Collins from Drug Policy Alliance, Diane Goldstein from LEAP, Jesselyn McCurdy from the ACLU, and Heather Rice-Minus from Prison Fellowship — about the bill’s impact and its prospects for reaching President Obama’s desk this year. We’ll also consider some hard questions about how far this legislation can really take us toward ending mass incarceration and about the challenging road ahead for criminal justice reform.

So let’s kick off the discussion by examining the Sentencing Reform and Correction Act. Could one of the panelists tell us about what’s in the bill and about its potential impact?

(And on your first response, please introduce yourself and your work!)