WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley last night received the prestigious Justice Award from the American Bar Association (ABA). According to the ABA, the award is for his “support on a variety of issues of importance to the legal profession and the administration of justice.”
In accepting the award, Grassley said, “It’s an honor to receive this recognition for my work on criminal justice reform. Both the juvenile justice reform and sentencing and corrections reform bills have broad bipartisan support, and have the potential to make real, lasting impacts on individuals and families. Our sentencing bill shows that senators from both sides of the aisle and from different political perspectives can come together to address a serious problem in a reasonable and responsible way.”
The ABA said it was honoring Grassley for his commitment to improving the justice system and his leadership in improving the U.S. criminal justice system by introducing and staunchly advocating for both the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act, and the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2015.
Since beginning the process of putting together the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act more than a year ago, Grassley, along with a core, bipartisan group of senators, came up with a consensus piece that passed the Judiciary Committee by a 15-5 vote. Now, as debate on the Senate floor is considered, the cosponsors have been addressing concerns with certain aspects of the bill while maintaining the core principles of the bill that has helped it garner such broad, bipartisan support.
Grassley has also led the effort to reauthorize some vitally important juvenile justice programs to reflect the latest scientific research on what works with at-risk adolescents and promote greater accountability of grant spending to ensure that taxpayer dollars are devoted mostly to the programs that research shows have the greatest merit and will yield the best results with adolescents. More than 100 nonprofit organizations have endorsed the bill.
According to the American Bar Association, the organization is the “national voice of the legal profession,” and “works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.”
The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act and the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention Act are two of 27 bills, all bipartisan, that have cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee since Grassley became Chairman last year.
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