To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate

Tell Congress: It's Time To Fix Our Justice System

This petition urges Congress to enact THE NATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMISSION ACT. Irregularities and inequities in America’s criminal justice system challenge our notions of fundamental fairness. This bill will establish a commission to study the current functioning of the criminal justice system.

Why We Urgently Need this Legislation:

Sen. Jim Webb has introduced this bill in the Senate in Feb, 2010, but it has not progressed. It has not been introduced in the House.

•With 5% of the world's population, our country now houses 25% of the world's reported prisoners.
•The number of incarcerated drug offenders has soared 1200% since 1980.
•Four times as many mentally ill people are in prisons than in mental health hospitals.
•Post-incarceration re-entry programs are haphazard and often nonexistent, undermining public safety and making it extremely difficult for ex-offenders to become full, contributing members of society.

“This is not a political question; it is a leadership challenge that affects every community in the country and calls for us to act,” said Senator Webb. “We can be smarter about whom we incarcerate, improve public safety outcomes, make better use of taxpayer dollars, and bring greater fairness to our justice system.

Congress: Pass this Bill!

Why is this important?

This petition urges Congress to enact THE NATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE COMMISSION ACT. Irregularities and inequities in America’s criminal justice system challenge our notions of fundamental fairness. This bill will establish a commission to study the current functioning of the criminal justice system.