Press Releases

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.) today issued the following statement on the House Judiciary Committee’s bipartisan criminal justice reform initiative:

“Earlier this summer, the House Judiciary Committee listened to House Members’ ideas and proposals for criminal justice reform. Following the Committee’s listening session, we are working together over the August break with the goal of crafting bipartisan solutions to address the issues facing our criminal justice system. Together, we will pursue responsible, common sense criminal justice reforms to make sure our federal laws and regulations effectively and appropriately punish wrongdoers, protect individual freedom, safeguard civil liberties, work as efficiently and fairly as possible, do not impede state efforts, and do not waste taxpayer dollars. We plan to introduce bipartisan legislation this September so that our criminal justice system better achieves justice and reflects core American values.”

Background: In June, Chairman Goodlatte and Ranking Member Conyers announced a criminal justice reform initiative. Over the coming months, the House Judiciary Committee, which has primary jurisdiction over the U.S. Criminal Code, will take a step-by-step approach to address a variety of criminal justice issues, including over-criminalization, sentencing reform, prison and reentry reform, protecting citizens through improved criminal procedures and policing strategies, and civil asset forfeiture reform. To begin this process, on June 25, 2015 the House Judiciary Committee held a criminal justice reform listening session and heard from over a dozen Members of Congress on this issue.

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