Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told MSNBC on Tuesday that the criminal justice system must be overhauled, and specified mandatory minimum sentences as needing changing.
"I do think we need to address our mandatory minimum sentences," Lee said. "Now, I'm not categorically opposed to all of them. You can imagine a mandatory minimum sentence that imposes one day or six weeks or something like that."
He added, "But when we get into a situation where we're routinely imposing, 15, 20,25, sometimes 55-year mandatory minimum sentences, you have to ask yourself the question, does the punishment fit the crime?"
"And are we doing more to harm families and communities and neighborhoods than we are to actually reform people and deter crime?"
Lee said that this has been “the center of my disagreement” with his fellow Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who has opposed the bipartisan First Step Act, which has support from the White House.
"I believe that this legislation would make America more safe, rather than less," the Utah Republican said.
Cotton argued in an op-ed for National Review on Monday that the bill could allow felons who have been convicted of assault or drug trafficking to apply for “time credits” that can help secure an early release.
"These are not low-level, non-violent crimes, nor are they obscure crimes," Cotton wrote. "There are dozens of other serious violent crimes, including sex-related offenses, that are missing from the bill’s exclusion list."
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.