Free Republic

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." -snip- Cotton's lobbying pits him against Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate. Cornyn has been pressing his colleagues to support it, saying that opposition from Cotton and other conservatives like Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, who has similar concerns, is misplaced.

A widening Republican rift over revamping the nation's criminal justice system is dashing hopes for overhaul in the final year of President Barack Obama's tenure despite strong bipartisan support and a concerted effort by the second-ranking GOP senator. One of the top advocates in Congress, John Cornyn of Texas, faces reluctance from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, opposition from a home-state colleague and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz and reservations from several GOP senators, who expressed their concerns at a closed-door meeting last week. -snip- Disparate voices - from Obama and the American Civil Liberties Union to the conservative Koch...

Thanks in no small part to the efforts of Sen. Tom Cotton, the bipartisan congressional effort to reduce the mandatory minimum sentences for certain federal drug felonies, and to release many drug felons from jail, is on hold in the Senate. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called for what Politico calls "a breather of sorts on the bill," so that Republican Senators can examine the issue more closely. Sen. John Cornyn is using this time to press his fellow Senate Republicans hard in favor of the lenient sentencing legislation he is co-sponsoring, the passage of which is a core agenda...

A bipartisan group of senators, including Texas Senator John Cornyn, is leading the charge to fix the problems that lead to jail and prison overcrowding. Senator Cornyn spoke exclusively to Fox San Antonio's Esteban Solis to share why he's committed to getting this bill passed. -snip- The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 has passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and Sen. Cornyn says President Obama supports it.

Senator John Cornyn, a former Texas judge and attorney general, is a devoted believer in the criminal justice overhaul awaiting its moment in the Senate. Now, he just has to convert doubting Republican colleagues. Mr. Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican and a main author of the criminal justice legislation, which would cut some sentences and ease re-entry after prison, is working to address fears from fellow Republicans that passage of the bill could set loose some dangerous offenders and diminish the party's law-and-order image.