Conservative opposition threatens criminal justice overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) — A handful of Senate Republicans on Tuesday dealt a severe blow to prospects for overhauling the criminal justice system in Congress this year, with one lawmaker calling the bipartisan legislation championed by President Barack Obama and some prominent conservatives "a massive social experiment in criminal leniency."

At an event for congressional staff, Cotton and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., joined a group of federal prosecutors and argued against the bill, which would allow judges to reduce prison time for some drug offenders.

The bipartisan legislation, passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee in November, would give judges discretion to give lesser sentences than federal mandatory minimums, eliminating mandatory life sentences for three-time, nonviolent drug offenders.

Possible changes include revising or eliminating parts of the bill that would allow judges to consider reduced mandatory minimum sentences for violent offenders or criminals who had possessed a firearm.

"How those changes will look is still being determined, but we're moving ahead to get a bill ready to be considered on the Senate floor," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a statement Monday with Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, another supporter.