June 11, 2009 12:05PM 

# Senate Hearings on Prison Reform 

By [David Rittgers](https://www.cato.org/people/david-rittgers) 

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The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding [hearings](http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/hearing.cfm?id=3906) today on Sen. Jim Webb’s (D‑VA) [bill](http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.714:) to create a National Criminal Justice Commission. Senator Webb is a [long-time student](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/28/AR2008122801728.html) of what has gone wrong with American criminal justice.

The bill provides for an 18-month review of the nation’s criminal justice system and recommendations for reform. I plan to attend, and the proceedings will be available on video [here](http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/hearing.cfm?id=3906). Click [here](http://www.sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/Advocacy/NCJCA%20Senate%20hearing%20statement%20final.pdf) to read [The Sentencing Project’s](http://www.sentencingproject.org/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsID=856) endorsement of the legislation.

My colleague [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/timothy-lynch) recently published a book on crime and punishment, [*In the Name of Justice*](http://www.catostore.org/index.asp?fa=ProductDetails&method=&pid=1441418). Notable authors such as Court of Appeals Judges Alex Kozinski and [Richard Posner](http://home.uchicago.edu/%7Erposner/), Professor [James Q. Wilson](http://publicpolicy.pepperdine.edu/academics/faculty/default.htm?faculty=james_wilson), and veteran defense attorney and law professor [Harvey Silverglate](https://www.cato.org/people/harvey-silverglate) weigh in on how the American criminal justice system has deviated from its moral foundations.

##### Related Tags 

[Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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