About the bill
The Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015 would reduce the mandatory minimum sentencing for controlled substance offenses. It would also reduce sentences of “couriers,” defined as those whose “offense was limited to transporting or storing drugs or money.” Included within the bill is a statement of purpose to “focus limited Federal resources on the most serious of offenders.” The bill has gained support from organizations in protest of mandatory minimum sentencing. Identical versions of this bill have been introduced to the House and the Senate.
Sponsor and status
114th Congress (2015–2017)
This bill was introduced on February 12, 2015, in a previous session of Congress, but it did not receive a vote.
Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. It is common for legislative text to be introduced concurrently in multiple bills (called companion bills), re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress in new bills, or added to larger bills (sometimes called omnibus bills).
62 Cosponsors (46 Democrats, 16 Republicans)
Position statements
What legislators are saying
“Labrador backs bipartisan federal criminal justice reform”
—
Rep. Raúl Labrador [R-ID1, 2011-2018]
(Sponsor)
on Jun 26, 2015
“Representative Blumenauer Introduces Bills to Ban the Box on Federal Job Applications, Reform Student Financial Aid Applications”
—
Rep. Earl Blumenauer [D-OR3]
(Co-sponsor)
on Sep 10, 2015
“Scott: Oregon Militia Occupation Ironically Highlights Whats Wrong With Mandatory Minimum Sentences”
—
Rep. Robert “Bobby” Scott [D-VA3]
(Co-sponsor)
on Jan 5, 2016
History
|
Oct 30, 2013
|
|
Earlier Version —
Introduced
This activity took place on a related bill, H.R. 3382 (113th). |
|
Feb 12, 2015
|
|
Introduced
Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber. |
H.R. 920 (114th) was a bill in the United States Congress.
A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.
Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number H.R. 920. This is the one from the 114th Congress.
This bill was introduced in the 114th Congress, which met from Jan 6, 2015 to Jan 3, 2017. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.
How to cite this information.
We recommend the following MLA-formatted citation when using the information you see here in academic work:
“H.R. 920 — 114th Congress: Smarter Sentencing Act of 2015.” www.GovTrack.us. 2015. November 30, 2021 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr920>
- show another citation format:
- APA
- Blue Book
- Wikipedia Template
Where is this information from?
GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.
