House Bill Would Cut Prison Time for Some Offenders

In a rare move for the bitterly partisan House, Republicans and Democrats are coming together to back reduced prison sentences for some nonviolent drug offenders.

The House bill comes just a week after a bipartisan coalition of Senators introduced a similar bill. That bill would give judges discretion to give sentences below federal mandatory minimums. While the House bill is not as broad, the measures may foreshadow some of the most sweeping changes to sentencing guidelines in decades.

Conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee plan to announce the legislation in a news conference Thursday. They include GOP House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Goodlatte of Virginia and Democratic Rep. John Conyers of Michigan.