What is The Fix Clemency Act?
The FIX Clemency Act will transfer the power to review clemency applications from the Department of Justice to an independent commission. That commission, made up of nine independent members, will make recommendations to the President on how to use the clemency power. It will allow a range of experts, including someone who is formerly incarcerated, to assess clemency petitions without bias and create a transparent system for recommending who should receive clemency.
The Clemency Fix Act Will……
Reunite Families
Reduce Mass Incarceration
Allow Reallocation of Funds
Restore clemency as a functioning “failsafe” to fix miscarriages of justice
Clear the 15,000-application backlog
Remove the conflict of interest inherent in the Department of Justice reviewing the work of its own prosecutors to determine if clemency is warranted
Eliminate multiple layers of redundant bureaucracy
How You Can Help…..
Read the Bill here and/or the Summary here.
Ask your member of Congress to endorse the FIX Clemency Act. Contact information is here. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, post your support for the FIX Clemency Act on social media, and get others to support the bill.
Use hashtags #LetsFIXClemency, #FIXClemencyAct, and/or #EndMassIncarceration. Don’t forget to tag @RepPressley and @thecouncilus.
Your statement of support does not have to be long or complex. Just write from the heart, emphasizing the reasons listed above that most resonate with you, or add your own.
For instance:
I urge you to co-sponsor and support the FIX Clemency Act (HR 6234) which would create an independent commission to make recommendations to the President on granting clemency. The Constitution gives the clemency power to the President, but the Justice Department has utterly failed to assess the thousands of applications it receives each year, which has resulted in a backlog of 15,000 applications. Enough is enough. We need a transparent system with a wide range of perspectives – including that of a formerly incarcerated person – rather than continuing to allow the DOJ’s pro-prosecutor bias to render the system meaningless.
