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FAMM Commends Georgia Special Council for Safety Valve Recommendation

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For Immediate Release
Date: November 18, 2011
Contact: Monica Pratt Raffanel, media@famm.org

WASHINGTON, DC - Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) President Julie Stewart today commended the release of a new report by the Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform for Georgians. The Council was established earlier this year by legislation passed by the Georgia General Assembly and supported by Governor Nathan Deal in order to find ways to protect public safety while controlling the skyrocketing growth of state prison costs.

Among the numerous recommendations made by the Council is a proposal for a new “safety valve.” A safety valve is a provision that authorizes judges to give certain low-level offenders a sentence shorter than would otherwise be required under a mandatory minimum law. The federal government and several states currently have safety valve provisions. FAMM helped craft the federal safety valve in 1994. Since its adoption, more than 68,000 low-level, nonviolent and deserving drug offenders have avoided mandatory minimums and been sentenced instead as individuals. Over this period, crime rates have continued to drop.

“We are very glad that the Special Council recognizes how smart and effective a state safety valve would be for Georgia,” said Stewart. “There is no reason to waste expensive prison space on low-level offenders who can be punished and treated in more cost-effective ways. This reform achieves a trifecta - protects the public, saves money, and does justice.”

The Georgia Special Council’s report contains the following recommendation: “The Council suggests allowing judges to depart from mandatory minimum sentences for drug trafficking under the following specific circumstances:

  • The interests of justice are served by a reduced minimum sentence;
  • Public safety is likely to be improved with expedited access to
    risk-reduction programs;
  • And the court specifies on the record the specific circumstances and
    reasons warranting this departure.”

The report also states: “In addition to the crime of drug trafficking, the General Assembly may want to consider using this safety valve procedure with other crimes subject to mandatory minimums excluding sentences imposed for serious violent felonies as they are defined by O.C.G.A. § 17-10-6.1(a) (commonly referred to as the “seven deadly sins”).”  A copy of the Council’s report can be found at: http://www.legis.ga.gov/Documents/GACouncilReport-FINALDRAFT.pdf

FAMM is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that supports fair and proportionate sentencing laws that allow judicial discretion while maintaining public safety.