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First Step Act

December 15, 2023

The First Step Act, formally known as the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act, is a bipartisan criminal justice bill passed by the 115th Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in December 2018. The Act enacted several changes in U.S. federal criminal law aimed at reforming federal prisons and sentencing laws in order to reduce recidivism, decreasing the federal inmate population, and maintaining public safety.[1]

First Step Act
Long titleFormerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act
Acronyms (colloquial)First Step Act
Enacted bythe 115th United States Congress
EffectiveDecember 21, 2018
Citations
Public law115-391
Legislative history
United States Supreme Court cases

Procedural history edit

An initial version of the First Step Act, H.R. 5682, was sponsored and introduced by Rep. Doug Collins [R-GA-9] on May 7, 2018.[2] This draft primarily focused on recidivism reduction through the development of a risk and needs assessment system for all federal prisoners. The bill directed the U.S. Attorney General to develop this system along with evidence-based recidivism reduction programs for federal prisoners.[3] Under the bill, prison administrators would use the national risk and needs assessment system to classify a prisoner's risk of recidivism, to make decisions about which recidivism reduction programs might be appropriate for each individual, and to determine when a prisoner is prepared to transfer into prerelease custody. The draft legislation also included a number of other criminal justice reform provisions, including ones that permit Bureau of Prison (BOP) employees to store firearms in designated off-site firearms storage facility or vehicle lockbox and carry concealed weapons outside of the prison (Section 202); prohibit the use of restraints on prisoners during pregnancy, labor and postpartum recovery, except where a health care provider determines otherwise or where the prisoner is an unreasonable flight risk or public safety threat (Section 301); place prisoners as close as possible to (and no more than 500 miles away from) their primary residence where practicable (Section 401); expand compassionate release (also "reduction in sentencing" or "RIS") for terminally ill patients and reauthorize the Second Chance Act of 2007 (Section 403); mandate the Bureau of Prisons to provide identification to returning citizens (Section 404); authorize new markets for Federal Prison Industries (Section 406); mandate de-escalation training for correctional officers and employees (Section 407); direct reporting on opioid treatment and abuse in prisons (Section 408); improve availability of feminine hygiene products in prison (Section 412); and other actions.[4]

After introduction, the bill was immediately referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, and was subsequently voted out of committee—accompanied by a report—on a 25–5 vote on May 22, 2018. The House Committee's report highlighted Bureau of Prison data about recidivism, and warned of the fiscal and social costs of repeated arrest, conviction and incarceration.[5] It also expressed concern with shrinking educational and vocational opportunities for inmates, given the proven potential of those activities to reduce criminogenic tendencies.[5] The bill passed the House of Representatives by a 360–59 vote the same day, with remarks from many congressional members, including Rep. Jerry Nadler [D-NY-10], who acknowledged that though the bill did not include sentencing reform as some would have liked, it was an "important first step" that was able to unify groups as divergent as #cut50 and the Koch Foundation.[6] After passage, the bill was referred to the Senate.[7]

However, the Senate did not ultimately vote on H.R. 5682, nor did it consider S. 2795—a companion bill to H.R. 5682 that was introduced in the Senate on May 7, 2018, by Senator John Cornyn [R-TX] and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Senate actually did not vote on criminal justice reform until December 2018 due to disagreement about the scope of the First Step Act. Without the inclusion of meaningful sentence reform akin to the measures proposed in the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015, many Senate Democrats were unwilling to support it.[8][9] After months of intense brokering in the Senate, Senator Chuck Grassley [R-IA] introduced a version of bill (S. 3649) on November 15, 2018, that incorporated the correctional reforms from S. 2795/H.R. 5682, added supplemental measures, and—importantly—included new sentencing reform provisions.[10] It garnered more than 40 cosponsors.

On December 12, Senator Grassley [R-IA], along with cosponsor Senator Dick Durbin [D-IL], introduced a revised version of S. 3649 as S. 3747, which preserved S. 3649's content and added an additional title reauthorizing and amending the Second Chance Act of 2007.[11] In an unusual procedural move, and after reversing his statement that he would not proceed on a vote until 2019,[12] the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell [R-KY] on December 13, 2018 substituted the content of The First Step Act (S. 3747) into a S. 756—a substantively unrelated bill called the Save Our Seas Act, which was originally introduced by Senator Dan Sullivan [R-AK] on March 29, 2017—in order to solicit final amendments and bring the matter to a vote. (Due to this procedural move—known as "amendment in the nature of a substitute"[13]—congressional records in various places reflect two wholly unrelated versions of S. 756 from the 115th Congress). Many Senators moved to submit amendments, among them Senators Tom Cotton [R-AR] and John Kennedy [R-LA]. They introduced controversial amendment 4109 to S. 756 to expand the types of convictions that would render an inmate ineligible for good-time credits (the crime "exclusion list") and to require prison wardens to notify every crime victim of the release date of the inmate associated with their offense, among other information-sharing measures.[14] They argued that these reforms were necessary to protect victims,[15] but bill-backers viewed the move as a last-minute effort to derail months of consensus building.[16]

In his statement to the Senate prior to the vote encouraging bill passage and discouraging the Cotton-Kennedy amendments, Senator Dick Durbin [D-IL] explained that the notification requirements of the Cotton-Kennedy amendments duplicated already-existing notification and information-sharing provisions of the Crime Victim Rights Act while undesirably disallowing victims to opt out of notifications.[17] He also suggested that the Cotton-Kennedy amendments attempted to add crimes to the exclusion list that they had previously opposed.[17] The Cotton-Kennedy Amendments were rejected in a 37–62 vote, and did not become a part of the bill.[14] On December 18, 2018, the revised First Step Act[18] passed the U.S. Senate as S. 756 on a bipartisan 87–12 vote.[19]

The House approved the bill with the Senate revisions on December 20, 2018 (358–36).[19] The act was signed by President Donald Trump on December 21, 2018,[20] and became Public Law 115–391.[21]

Support and opposition edit

Senators Chuck Grassley [R-IA], Dick Durbin [D-IL], Cory Booker [D-NJ], and Mike Lee [R-UT] championed the First Step Act in the Senate and built a bipartisan coalition to pass the legislation. In the House, Representatives Doug Collins [R-GA-9], Hakeem Jeffries [D-NY-8] and John Lewis [D-GA-5] promoted similar legislation, albeit without sentencing reform provisions. Though President Donald Trump was initially skeptical of the legislation, intense lobbying by his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner eventually persuaded him to back the bill and push for a floor vote in 2018.[12] Kushner's efforts included reaching out to the Murdoch family (who own Fox News) to encourage positive coverage, appearing on Fox, securing Vice President Mike Pence's support, scheduling policy time discussions with Trump, and arranging meetings with celebrities like Kanye West and Kim Kardashian and media players like Van Jones to lobby Trump.[22][12] Prominent conservatives from political and advocacy backgrounds also wrote to President Donald Trump on August 22, 2018, addressing criticisms of the First Step Act, assuring him of conservative support for the measure (including its sentencing provisions), and urging him to support it.[23]

Notable conservative lawmakers who opposed the bill included Senators Tom Cotton [R-AR], John Kennedy [R-LA], Ben Sasse [R-NE] and Lisa Murkowski [R-AK]. Twelve Republican senators in total voted against the First Step Act.[24] Though Senator Ted Cruz [R-TX] was originally opposed to the legislation, he ultimately backed the bill after an amendment he drafted to expand the crime exclusion list was adopted.[25]

No Democratic congressional members voted against the First Step Act.[24][26] However, some liberal commentators such as Roy L. Austin Jr., who worked on criminal justice in the Obama administration, criticized the act for not delivering more relief to more prisoners.[27]

Main legislative provisions edit

The law as enacted is divided into six titles[28] and codified at various parts of Titles 18, 21, and 34 of the United States Code, based on the subject of legislation.[29]

Title I directs the U.S. Attorney General to develop and publicly announce a risk and needs assessment system for all Federal Bureau of Prison inmates within 180 days of enactment, and to recommend evidence-based recidivism reduction activities. This risk and needs assessment system, once developed, is to be used under the First Step Act to classify prisoner risk of recidivism, match prisoners with suitable recidivism reduction activities based on their classification, inform housing decisions so that prisoners in similar risk categories are grouped together, and create incentives for participation in and completion of recidivism-reduction activities. These incentives include increased access to phone privileges, transfer to penal institutions closer to a prisoner's primary residence, and time credits to reduce sentence length. However, time credit rewards are not available to all prisoners; 18 U.S.C. § 3632(d)(4)(D)—where Title I of the First Step Act was codified—details nearly 70 types of convictions that render an inmate ineligible to accrue time credits for successfully completing recidivism-reduction activities.[30] Additionally, prisoners subject to "a final order of removal"—which renders an individual deportable—are also ineligible from receiving good time credit incentives. Those who participate in risk and needs assessment activities may be eligible for prerelease custody or supervised release as described in 18 U.S.C. 3624(g).[31] This title also increases the number of good-time credits per year—small sentenced reductions earned by prisoners for good behavior—from 47 to 54, which many believe was consistent with the original intent behind 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b)(1).[32] Importantly, the law retroactively applies the good-time credits, making some prisoners immediately eligible for release based on accrual of seven additional good-time credits per year.

Title I of the First Step Act, as codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3621(h), also directs the Director of Bureau of Prisons to perform an initial risk and needs assessment of all federal prisoners within 180 days of the Attorney General's release of the risk and needs assessment system, and to begin expanding recidivism-reduction activities.[33]

Title II, as codified at 18 U.S.C. § 4050, stipulates that the Director of the Bureau of Prisons must ensure that federal prison directors provide employees a secure place to store firearms outside of the prison, or allow employees to store firearms in an authorized and approved vehicle lockbox.[34] It also allows federal BOP employees to carry concealed firearms outside of the prison.

Title III, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 4322, prohibits the use of restraints on prisoners during pregnancy, labor and postpartum recovery, subject to limited exceptions.[35] If a correctional officer determines that the prisoner is a flight risk or poses serious harm to herself or the community, or if a healthcare professional concludes that use of restraints is consistent with medical safety, restraints must be used. However, they must be the least restrictive means possible to prevent escape.

Title IV makes a variety of sentencing reforms. Section 401 amends the Controlled Substance Act (21 U.S.C. § 801 et seq.) to constrain the application of sentencing enhancements for defendants with prior drug felony convictions by redefining “serious drug felony” and “serious violent felony,” to reduce the mandatory minimum sentence for a second violation from 20 years to 15 years, and to reduce the mandatory minimum sentence for a third violation from life to 25 years. It makes similar revisions to the Controlled Substance Import and Export Act at 21 U.S.C. § 960(b).

Section 402 expands the number of defendants who may be eligible for "safety valve" relief. Prior to the First Step Act, only defendants with one "criminal history point" could receive sentences below the mandatory minimums, but under the Act, defendants with up to four points (depending on the type of offense) may be eligible.[36]

Section 403 eliminates the "stacking" provision of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c).[37] Prior to this legislation, 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)—which stipulated that an enhanced mandatory minimum sentence could be added when a gun was used in the commission of a “second or subsequent” conviction—was interpreted to permit the imposition of enhanced mandatory minimum sentences where a gun was used in a concurrently charged offense. The First Step Act clarified that gun enhancements can only be added where the defendant was previously (i.e. non-concurrently) convicted of a gun violation, so as to restrict sentencing enhancements to "true" repeat offenders.[38]

Section 404 applies the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010—which, among other things, reduced the discrepancy between sentences for crack cocaine and powder cocaine convictions—retroactively. Under the First Step Act, prisoners who committed offenses "covered" by the Fair Sentencing Act are permitted to petition a court directly to reconsider their sentence (after certain administrative steps are satisfied).[39] Prior to this law, the Bureau of Prisons acted as the "gatekeeper" of prisoner petitions, and prisoners were not able to make motions to federal courts directly for back-end sentencing review.[40]

Title V reauthorizes the Second Chance Act of 2007 from 2019 to 2023. This reauthorization directs the Attorney General to make grants to state and local projects which support the successful reentry of juvenile and adult prisoner populations into their communities after incarceration—including projects which improve academic and vocational education for offenders during incarceration.

Title VI includes more than ten miscellaneous provisions, including those that place prisoners as close as possible to (and no more than 500 miles away from) their primary residence where practicable (Section 601); encourage home confinement for low risk prisoners (Section 602); lower the eligibility age and reduce to the time-served requirement for compassionate release, and broaden the prisoner population eligible for compassionate release to include terminally ill offenders (Section 603); mandate the Bureau of Prisons to provide identification to returning citizens (Section 604); authorize new markets for Federal Prison Industries (Section 605); mandate de-escalation training for correctional officers and employees (Section 606); direct reporting on opioid treatment and abuse in prisons (Section 607); direct data collection on various metrics for inclusion in the National Prisoner Statistics Program (Section 610); improve availability of feminine hygiene products in prison (Section 611); and prohibit the use of solitary confinement for federally-incarcerated juveniles, excepting certain circumstances (Section 613).

Early achievements and implementation critiques edit

Scope of Impact: Within the first year of enactment, more than 3,000 federal prisoners were released based on changes to the good-time credits calculation formula under the First Step Act, and more than 2,000 inmates benefited from sentence reductions from the retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010.[41][42] Additionally, nearly 350 people were approved for elderly home confinement and more than 100 received compassionate release sentence reductions.[42] While many groups applauded those developments, both liberal and conservative critics suggest that the Trump administration's Department of Justice is not properly applying the law, resulting in fewer prisoners enjoying the release and sentencing adjustment reforms than Congress intended.[43] In many cases, Department of Justice prosecutors are opposing inmates' motions for sentence reduction under the First Step Act by arguing that the relevant drug quantity is not what the offender was convicted of possessing or trafficking, but the quantity that records suggest the offender possessed or trafficked. The latter figure is typically substantially larger. In some instances, DOJ prosecutors are trying to "reincarcerate offenders already released under the First Step Act."[43]

Budget: Though the First Step Act authorizes Congress to appropriate $75 million per year between 2019 and 2023, only $14 million was explicitly earmarked for funding the legislation when President Trump released his 2020 budget priorities in March 2019. This lead First Step Act advocates to worry that the bill's underfunding represented an attempt to "starve it to death".[44]

Transparency of risk and needs assessment system: In July 2019, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the risk and needs assessment tool mandated by the First Step Act legislation. Dubbed PATTERN ("Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs"), the tool is "designed to predict the likelihood of general and violent recidivism for all BOP inmates."[45] The initial report detailed the mechanics of the assessment tool and its implementation, and invited a 45-day comment period.[46] The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, The Leadership Conference Education Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at NYU Law, The Justice Roundtable, Media Mobilizing Project, and Upturn replied in a joint letter to DOJ outlining concerns about the transparency of PATTERN's algorithmic development, and its potential for exacerbating existing racial discrepancies in the criminal justice system.[47]

In January 2020, the DOJ announced that all BOP prisoners had undergone an initial risk and needs assessment with the PATTERN tool as required by the law, and that the Department was making changes to the PATTERN algorithm in response to feedback.[48] However, allegations of racial algorithmic bias in the PATTERN tool persist.[49]

Compassionate release during the COVID-19 pandemic edit

On April 3, 2020, Attorney General William Barr issued a memo pursuant to § 12003(b)(2) of the CARES Act directing the BOP to review the sentences of all prisoners with COVID-19 risk factors and prioritize their transfer to home confinement, starting with the most at-risk facilities.[50] Given the expanded eligibility for transfer to home confinement, many federal prisoners are trying to utilize the First Step Act's amended compassionate release provisions at 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A) to get out of prison. These provisions permit a federal judge to modify an inmate's sentence by motion of the BOP or by motion of the inmate after the inmate exhausts administrative requirements if "extraordinary and compelling reasons" warrant reduction or if the inmate meets certain age and sentence criteria, and so long as such a reduction is consistent with the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.[51] Some inmates argue that risk of contracting COVID-19 in prison is an "extraordinary and compelling reason" justifying sentence modification pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)(i). In United States v. McCarthy, Judge Hall of the United States District Court of Connecticut agreed with an inmate, finding that a for a 65-year-old prisoner suffering from COPD, asthma, and other lung-related ailments, the risk of infection from COVID-19 in prison was an "extraordinary and compelling reason" to justify his release from BOP custody, subject to post-release supervision conditions.[52] However, not all courts have held that people with conditions "such as hypertension, heart disease, lung disease, or diabetes, which might make them more likely to suffer from serious complications if they were to contract COVID-19 meet any of the 'extraordinary and compelling reasons' specified in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines."[53]

In addition to differing on the merits of compassionate release petitions during the COVID-19 pandemic, federal courts are split as of May 2020 on the question of whether the administrative requirements of 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)—which stipulate that an inmate may only move for compassionate release (1) "after the defendant has fully exhausted all administrative rights to appeal a failure of the Bureau of Prisons to bring a motion on the defendant’s behalf" or (2) "the lapse of 30 days from the receipt of such a request by the warden of the defendant’s facility"—are waivable. District Courts in the Second and Sixth Circuits (among others) have found the administrative requirements may be waived, such that the prisoner need not exhaust all appeal rights or wait 30 days after requesting that the warden petition a federal court for sentence review in order to directly seek relief.[54] For example, in United States v. Scparta, S.D.N.Y. District Judge Nathan found that a 55-year-old petitioner ailing from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, and hypertension was entitled to compassionate release even though he failed to exhaust the administrative requirements at 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A).[55] However, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in United States v. Raia and district courts around the country (such as S.D.N.Y in United States v. Roberts, N.D. Cal in United States v. Reid, E.D. Mich in United States v. Alam and E.D. Ky in United States v. Hofmeister) have held that the administrative exhaustion requirements are not subject to equitable waiver even during the COVID-19 pandemic, and must be complied with before federal courts can review the substance of the petitions.[53][54]

Subsequent legislation edit

On March 7, 2019, Senator Cory Booker introduced the Next Step Act.[56] As of October 2021, it has not been subject to a vote in committee or on the Senate floor.[57]

At a celebration designating April 2019 First Step Act Month, President Trump announced that the next criminal justice priority for his administration would be a Second Step Act focusing on easing employment barriers for formerly incarcerated people.[58] As of 2021, no such legislation has been proposed through Congress.

Litigation edit

In June 2020, a unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit including then-Judge Amy Coney Barrett, held that during resentencing under the Act, a previous sentence over double the United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines range could not simply be reimposed without explanation.[59][60]

In the Supreme Court case, Terry v. United States (2021), the Court decided unanimously that the resentencing provisions of Section 404, applying to changes in the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act, only apply to possession crimes that carried mandatory minimum sentences (tier 1 and 2 charges, both which were evoked on carrying minimum quantities of crack cocaine), and not tier 3 possession crimes.[61]

References edit

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  56. ^ "Thinking beyond prisoner reform to reintegration". The Hill. 15 March 2019. from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  57. ^ Booker, Cory A. (2019-03-07). "Actions - S.697 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Next Step Act of 2019". www.congress.gov. from the original on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  58. ^ "Remarks at a Prison Reform Summit and First Step Act Celebration" (PDF). GPO. April 1, 2019. (PDF) from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  59. ^ Note, Recent Case: Seventh Circuit Holds Above-Guidelines Sentence Was Inadequately Justified, But Foreshadows Same Sentence on Remand, 134 Harv. L. Rev. 1855 (2021).
  60. ^ United States v. Jones (2012), 962 F.3d 956 (7th Cir. 2020).
  61. ^ Nanos, Eluna (June 14, 2021). "SCOTUS Unanimously Rules Against Crack Cocaine Defendant, But Justices Thomas and Sotomayor Still Found a Way to Disagree". Law & Crime. Retrieved June 14, 2021.

External links edit

  • First Step Act of 2018 (PDF/details) as amended in the GPO Statute Compilations collection
  • First Step Act of 2018 (PDF/details) as enacted in the US Statutes at Large

December 15, 2023
first, step, formally, known, formerly, incarcerated, reenter, society, transformed, safely, transitioning, every, person, bipartisan, criminal, justice, bill, passed, 115th, congress, signed, president, donald, trump, december, 2018, enacted, several, changes. The First Step Act formally known as the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act is a bipartisan criminal justice bill passed by the 115th Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in December 2018 The Act enacted several changes in U S federal criminal law aimed at reforming federal prisons and sentencing laws in order to reduce recidivism decreasing the federal inmate population and maintaining public safety 1 First Step ActLong titleFormerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person ActAcronyms colloquial First Step ActEnacted bythe 115th United States CongressEffectiveDecember 21 2018CitationsPublic law115 391Legislative historyIntroduced in the Senate as S 756 by Dan Sullivan R AK on March 29 2017Committee consideration by Senate Committee on Commerce Science and Transportation and House Committee on Transportation and InfrastructurePassed the Senate on August 3 2017 Unanimous consent Passed the House of Representatives on July 25 2018 Voice Vote with amendmentSenate agreed to House of Representatives amendment on December 18 2018 Yeas 87 Nays 12 with further amendmentHouse of Representatives agreed to Senate amendment on December 20 2018 Yeas 358 Nays 36 Signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 21 2018United States Supreme Court casesTerry v United States No 20 5904 593 U S 2021 Concepcion v United States No 20 1650 597 U S 2022 Pulsifer v United States No 22 340 601 U S 2024 Contents 1 Procedural history 1 1 Support and opposition 2 Main legislative provisions 3 Early achievements and implementation critiques 4 Compassionate release during the COVID 19 pandemic 5 Subsequent legislation 6 Litigation 7 References 8 External linksProcedural history editAn initial version of the First Step Act H R 5682 was sponsored and introduced by Rep Doug Collins R GA 9 on May 7 2018 2 This draft primarily focused on recidivism reduction through the development of a risk and needs assessment system for all federal prisoners The bill directed the U S Attorney General to develop this system along with evidence based recidivism reduction programs for federal prisoners 3 Under the bill prison administrators would use the national risk and needs assessment system to classify a prisoner s risk of recidivism to make decisions about which recidivism reduction programs might be appropriate for each individual and to determine when a prisoner is prepared to transfer into prerelease custody The draft legislation also included a number of other criminal justice reform provisions including ones that permit Bureau of Prison BOP employees to store firearms in designated off site firearms storage facility or vehicle lockbox and carry concealed weapons outside of the prison Section 202 prohibit the use of restraints on prisoners during pregnancy labor and postpartum recovery except where a health care provider determines otherwise or where the prisoner is an unreasonable flight risk or public safety threat Section 301 place prisoners as close as possible to and no more than 500 miles away from their primary residence where practicable Section 401 expand compassionate release also reduction in sentencing or RIS for terminally ill patients and reauthorize the Second Chance Act of 2007 Section 403 mandate the Bureau of Prisons to provide identification to returning citizens Section 404 authorize new markets for Federal Prison Industries Section 406 mandate de escalation training for correctional officers and employees Section 407 direct reporting on opioid treatment and abuse in prisons Section 408 improve availability of feminine hygiene products in prison Section 412 and other actions 4 After introduction the bill was immediately referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary and was subsequently voted out of committee accompanied by a report on a 25 5 vote on May 22 2018 The House Committee s report highlighted Bureau of Prison data about recidivism and warned of the fiscal and social costs of repeated arrest conviction and incarceration 5 It also expressed concern with shrinking educational and vocational opportunities for inmates given the proven potential of those activities to reduce criminogenic tendencies 5 The bill passed the House of Representatives by a 360 59 vote the same day with remarks from many congressional members including Rep Jerry Nadler D NY 10 who acknowledged that though the bill did not include sentencing reform as some would have liked it was an important first step that was able to unify groups as divergent as cut50 and the Koch Foundation 6 After passage the bill was referred to the Senate 7 However the Senate did not ultimately vote on H R 5682 nor did it consider S 2795 a companion bill to H R 5682 that was introduced in the Senate on May 7 2018 by Senator John Cornyn R TX and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee The Senate actually did not vote on criminal justice reform until December 2018 due to disagreement about the scope of the First Step Act Without the inclusion of meaningful sentence reform akin to the measures proposed in the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 many Senate Democrats were unwilling to support it 8 9 After months of intense brokering in the Senate Senator Chuck Grassley R IA introduced a version of bill S 3649 on November 15 2018 that incorporated the correctional reforms from S 2795 H R 5682 added supplemental measures and importantly included new sentencing reform provisions 10 It garnered more than 40 cosponsors On December 12 Senator Grassley R IA along with cosponsor Senator Dick Durbin D IL introduced a revised version of S 3649 as S 3747 which preserved S 3649 s content and added an additional title reauthorizing and amending the Second Chance Act of 2007 11 In an unusual procedural move and after reversing his statement that he would not proceed on a vote until 2019 12 the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell R KY on December 13 2018 substituted the content of The First Step Act S 3747 into a S 756 a substantively unrelated bill called the Save Our Seas Act which was originally introduced by Senator Dan Sullivan R AK on March 29 2017 in order to solicit final amendments and bring the matter to a vote Due to this procedural move known as amendment in the nature of a substitute 13 congressional records in various places reflect two wholly unrelated versions of S 756 from the 115th Congress Many Senators moved to submit amendments among them Senators Tom Cotton R AR and John Kennedy R LA They introduced controversial amendment 4109 to S 756 to expand the types of convictions that would render an inmate ineligible for good time credits the crime exclusion list and to require prison wardens to notify every crime victim of the release date of the inmate associated with their offense among other information sharing measures 14 They argued that these reforms were necessary to protect victims 15 but bill backers viewed the move as a last minute effort to derail months of consensus building 16 In his statement to the Senate prior to the vote encouraging bill passage and discouraging the Cotton Kennedy amendments Senator Dick Durbin D IL explained that the notification requirements of the Cotton Kennedy amendments duplicated already existing notification and information sharing provisions of the Crime Victim Rights Act while undesirably disallowing victims to opt out of notifications 17 He also suggested that the Cotton Kennedy amendments attempted to add crimes to the exclusion list that they had previously opposed 17 The Cotton Kennedy Amendments were rejected in a 37 62 vote and did not become a part of the bill 14 On December 18 2018 the revised First Step Act 18 passed the U S Senate as S 756 on a bipartisan 87 12 vote 19 The House approved the bill with the Senate revisions on December 20 2018 358 36 19 The act was signed by President Donald Trump on December 21 2018 20 and became Public Law 115 391 21 Support and opposition edit Senators Chuck Grassley R IA Dick Durbin D IL Cory Booker D NJ and Mike Lee R UT championed the First Step Act in the Senate and built a bipartisan coalition to pass the legislation In the House Representatives Doug Collins R GA 9 Hakeem Jeffries D NY 8 and John Lewis D GA 5 promoted similar legislation albeit without sentencing reform provisions Though President Donald Trump was initially skeptical of the legislation intense lobbying by his son in law and senior adviser Jared Kushner eventually persuaded him to back the bill and push for a floor vote in 2018 12 Kushner s efforts included reaching out to the Murdoch family who own Fox News to encourage positive coverage appearing on Fox securing Vice President Mike Pence s support scheduling policy time discussions with Trump and arranging meetings with celebrities like Kanye West and Kim Kardashian and media players like Van Jones to lobby Trump 22 12 Prominent conservatives from political and advocacy backgrounds also wrote to President Donald Trump on August 22 2018 addressing criticisms of the First Step Act assuring him of conservative support for the measure including its sentencing provisions and urging him to support it 23 Notable conservative lawmakers who opposed the bill included Senators Tom Cotton R AR John Kennedy R LA Ben Sasse R NE and Lisa Murkowski R AK Twelve Republican senators in total voted against the First Step Act 24 Though Senator Ted Cruz R TX was originally opposed to the legislation he ultimately backed the bill after an amendment he drafted to expand the crime exclusion list was adopted 25 No Democratic congressional members voted against the First Step Act 24 26 However some liberal commentators such as Roy L Austin Jr who worked on criminal justice in the Obama administration criticized the act for not delivering more relief to more prisoners 27 Main legislative provisions editThe law as enacted is divided into six titles 28 and codified at various parts of Titles 18 21 and 34 of the United States Code based on the subject of legislation 29 Title I directs the U S Attorney General to develop and publicly announce a risk and needs assessment system for all Federal Bureau of Prison inmates within 180 days of enactment and to recommend evidence based recidivism reduction activities This risk and needs assessment system once developed is to be used under the First Step Act to classify prisoner risk of recidivism match prisoners with suitable recidivism reduction activities based on their classification inform housing decisions so that prisoners in similar risk categories are grouped together and create incentives for participation in and completion of recidivism reduction activities These incentives include increased access to phone privileges transfer to penal institutions closer to a prisoner s primary residence and time credits to reduce sentence length However time credit rewards are not available to all prisoners 18 U S C 3632 d 4 D where Title I of the First Step Act was codified details nearly 70 types of convictions that render an inmate ineligible to accrue time credits for successfully completing recidivism reduction activities 30 Additionally prisoners subject to a final order of removal which renders an individual deportable are also ineligible from receiving good time credit incentives Those who participate in risk and needs assessment activities may be eligible for prerelease custody or supervised release as described in 18 U S C 3624 g 31 This title also increases the number of good time credits per year small sentenced reductions earned by prisoners for good behavior from 47 to 54 which many believe was consistent with the original intent behind 18 U S C 3624 b 1 32 Importantly the law retroactively applies the good time credits making some prisoners immediately eligible for release based on accrual of seven additional good time credits per year Title I of the First Step Act as codified at 18 U S C 3621 h also directs the Director of Bureau of Prisons to perform an initial risk and needs assessment of all federal prisoners within 180 days of the Attorney General s release of the risk and needs assessment system and to begin expanding recidivism reduction activities 33 Title II as codified at 18 U S C 4050 stipulates that the Director of the Bureau of Prisons must ensure that federal prison directors provide employees a secure place to store firearms outside of the prison or allow employees to store firearms in an authorized and approved vehicle lockbox 34 It also allows federal BOP employees to carry concealed firearms outside of the prison Title III codified at 18 U S C 4322 prohibits the use of restraints on prisoners during pregnancy labor and postpartum recovery subject to limited exceptions 35 If a correctional officer determines that the prisoner is a flight risk or poses serious harm to herself or the community or if a healthcare professional concludes that use of restraints is consistent with medical safety restraints must be used However they must be the least restrictive means possible to prevent escape Title IV makes a variety of sentencing reforms Section 401 amends the Controlled Substance Act 21 U S C 801 et seq to constrain the application of sentencing enhancements for defendants with prior drug felony convictions by redefining serious drug felony and serious violent felony to reduce the mandatory minimum sentence for a second violation from 20 years to 15 years and to reduce the mandatory minimum sentence for a third violation from life to 25 years It makes similar revisions to the Controlled Substance Import and Export Act at 21 U S C 960 b Section 402 expands the number of defendants who may be eligible for safety valve relief Prior to the First Step Act only defendants with one criminal history point could receive sentences below the mandatory minimums but under the Act defendants with up to four points depending on the type of offense may be eligible 36 Section 403 eliminates the stacking provision of 18 U S C 924 c 37 Prior to this legislation 18 U S C 924 c which stipulated that an enhanced mandatory minimum sentence could be added when a gun was used in the commission of a second or subsequent conviction was interpreted to permit the imposition of enhanced mandatory minimum sentences where a gun was used in a concurrently charged offense The First Step Act clarified that gun enhancements can only be added where the defendant was previously i e non concurrently convicted of a gun violation so as to restrict sentencing enhancements to true repeat offenders 38 Section 404 applies the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 which among other things reduced the discrepancy between sentences for crack cocaine and powder cocaine convictions retroactively Under the First Step Act prisoners who committed offenses covered by the Fair Sentencing Act are permitted to petition a court directly to reconsider their sentence after certain administrative steps are satisfied 39 Prior to this law the Bureau of Prisons acted as the gatekeeper of prisoner petitions and prisoners were not able to make motions to federal courts directly for back end sentencing review 40 Title V reauthorizes the Second Chance Act of 2007 from 2019 to 2023 This reauthorization directs the Attorney General to make grants to state and local projects which support the successful reentry of juvenile and adult prisoner populations into their communities after incarceration including projects which improve academic and vocational education for offenders during incarceration Title VI includes more than ten miscellaneous provisions including those that place prisoners as close as possible to and no more than 500 miles away from their primary residence where practicable Section 601 encourage home confinement for low risk prisoners Section 602 lower the eligibility age and reduce to the time served requirement for compassionate release and broaden the prisoner population eligible for compassionate release to include terminally ill offenders Section 603 mandate the Bureau of Prisons to provide identification to returning citizens Section 604 authorize new markets for Federal Prison Industries Section 605 mandate de escalation training for correctional officers and employees Section 606 direct reporting on opioid treatment and abuse in prisons Section 607 direct data collection on various metrics for inclusion in the National Prisoner Statistics Program Section 610 improve availability of feminine hygiene products in prison Section 611 and prohibit the use of solitary confinement for federally incarcerated juveniles excepting certain circumstances Section 613 Early achievements and implementation critiques editScope of Impact Within the first year of enactment more than 3 000 federal prisoners were released based on changes to the good time credits calculation formula under the First Step Act and more than 2 000 inmates benefited from sentence reductions from the retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 41 42 Additionally nearly 350 people were approved for elderly home confinement and more than 100 received compassionate release sentence reductions 42 While many groups applauded those developments both liberal and conservative critics suggest that the Trump administration s Department of Justice is not properly applying the law resulting in fewer prisoners enjoying the release and sentencing adjustment reforms than Congress intended 43 In many cases Department of Justice prosecutors are opposing inmates motions for sentence reduction under the First Step Act by arguing that the relevant drug quantity is not what the offender was convicted of possessing or trafficking but the quantity that records suggest the offender possessed or trafficked The latter figure is typically substantially larger In some instances DOJ prosecutors are trying to reincarcerate offenders already released under the First Step Act 43 Budget Though the First Step Act authorizes Congress to appropriate 75 million per year between 2019 and 2023 only 14 million was explicitly earmarked for funding the legislation when President Trump released his 2020 budget priorities in March 2019 This lead First Step Act advocates to worry that the bill s underfunding represented an attempt to starve it to death 44 Transparency of risk and needs assessment system In July 2019 the Department of Justice announced the creation of the risk and needs assessment tool mandated by the First Step Act legislation Dubbed PATTERN Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs the tool is designed to predict the likelihood of general and violent recidivism for all BOP inmates 45 The initial report detailed the mechanics of the assessment tool and its implementation and invited a 45 day comment period 46 The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights The Leadership Conference Education Fund the American Civil Liberties Union the Center on Race Inequality and the Law at NYU Law The Justice Roundtable Media Mobilizing Project and Upturn replied in a joint letter to DOJ outlining concerns about the transparency of PATTERN s algorithmic development and its potential for exacerbating existing racial discrepancies in the criminal justice system 47 In January 2020 the DOJ announced that all BOP prisoners had undergone an initial risk and needs assessment with the PATTERN tool as required by the law and that the Department was making changes to the PATTERN algorithm in response to feedback 48 However allegations of racial algorithmic bias in the PATTERN tool persist 49 Compassionate release during the COVID 19 pandemic editOn April 3 2020 Attorney General William Barr issued a memo pursuant to 12003 b 2 of the CARES Act directing the BOP to review the sentences of all prisoners with COVID 19 risk factors and prioritize their transfer to home confinement starting with the most at risk facilities 50 Given the expanded eligibility for transfer to home confinement many federal prisoners are trying to utilize the First Step Act s amended compassionate release provisions at 18 U S C 3582 c 1 A to get out of prison These provisions permit a federal judge to modify an inmate s sentence by motion of the BOP or by motion of the inmate after the inmate exhausts administrative requirements if extraordinary and compelling reasons warrant reduction or if the inmate meets certain age and sentence criteria and so long as such a reduction is consistent with the U S Sentencing Guidelines 51 Some inmates argue that risk of contracting COVID 19 in prison is an extraordinary and compelling reason justifying sentence modification pursuant to 18 U S C 3582 c 1 A i In United States v McCarthy Judge Hall of the United States District Court of Connecticut agreed with an inmate finding that a for a 65 year old prisoner suffering from COPD asthma and other lung related ailments the risk of infection from COVID 19 in prison was an extraordinary and compelling reason to justify his release from BOP custody subject to post release supervision conditions 52 However not all courts have held that people with conditions such as hypertension heart disease lung disease or diabetes which might make them more likely to suffer from serious complications if they were to contract COVID 19 meet any of the extraordinary and compelling reasons specified in the U S Sentencing Guidelines 53 In addition to differing on the merits of compassionate release petitions during the COVID 19 pandemic federal courts are split as of May 2020 on the question of whether the administrative requirements of 18 U S C 3582 c 1 A which stipulate that an inmate may only move for compassionate release 1 after the defendant has fully exhausted all administrative rights to appeal a failure of the Bureau of Prisons to bring a motion on the defendant s behalf or 2 the lapse of 30 days from the receipt of such a request by the warden of the defendant s facility are waivable District Courts in the Second and Sixth Circuits among others have found the administrative requirements may be waived such that the prisoner need not exhaust all appeal rights or wait 30 days after requesting that the warden petition a federal court for sentence review in order to directly seek relief 54 For example in United States v Scparta S D N Y District Judge Nathan found that a 55 year old petitioner ailing from high blood pressure high cholesterol sleep apnea and hypertension was entitled to compassionate release even though he failed to exhaust the administrative requirements at 18 U S C 3582 c 1 A 55 However the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in United States v Raia and district courts around the country such as S D N Y in United States v Roberts N D Cal in United States v Reid E D Mich in United States v Alam and E D Ky in United States v Hofmeister have held that the administrative exhaustion requirements are not subject to equitable waiver even during the COVID 19 pandemic and must be complied with before federal courts can review the substance of the petitions 53 54 Subsequent legislation editOn March 7 2019 Senator Cory Booker introduced the Next Step Act 56 As of October 2021 it has not been subject to a vote in committee or on the Senate floor 57 At a celebration designating April 2019 First Step Act Month President Trump announced that the next criminal justice priority for his administration would be a Second Step Act focusing on easing employment barriers for formerly incarcerated people 58 As of 2021 no such legislation has been proposed through Congress Litigation editIn June 2020 a unanimous panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit including then Judge Amy Coney Barrett held that during resentencing under the Act a previous sentence over double the United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines range could not simply be reimposed without explanation 59 60 In the Supreme Court case Terry v United States 2021 the Court decided unanimously that the resentencing provisions of Section 404 applying to changes in the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act only apply to possession crimes that carried mandatory minimum sentences tier 1 and 2 charges both which were evoked on carrying minimum quantities of crack cocaine and not tier 3 possession crimes 61 References edit The First Step Act of 2018 An Overview PDF Congressional Research Service March 4 2019 Archived PDF from the original on February 14 2021 Retrieved May 23 2020 Collins Doug 2018 05 23 H R 5682 115th Congress 2017 2018 First Step Act www congress gov Archived from the original on 2020 05 24 Retrieved 2020 05 26 Collins Doug 2018 05 23 Text H R 5682 115th Congress 2017 2018 First Step Act www congress gov Archived from the original on 2018 12 22 Retrieved 2020 05 26 Collins Doug 2018 05 23 Text H R 5682 115th Congress 2017 2018 First Step Act www congress gov Archived from the original on 2020 07 05 Retrieved 2020 05 25 a b H Rept 115 699 Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act www congress gov Archived from the original on 2020 07 14 Retrieved 2020 05 25 House Congressional Record Page H4311 12 PDF Congressional Record May 22 2018 Archived PDF from the original on 2021 02 14 Retrieved May 25 2020 Collins Doug 2018 05 23 Actions H R 5682 115th Congress 2017 2018 First Step Act www congress gov Archived from the original on 2021 02 14 Retrieved 2020 05 25 Gill Molly 2018 12 01 Threading the Needle The First Step Act Sentencing Reform and the Future of Criminal Justice Reform Advocacy Federal Sentencing Reporter 31 2 107 111 doi 10 1525 fsr 2018 31 2 107 ISSN 1053 9867 S2CID 149944996 Lartey Jamiles 5 June 2018 Trump s prison reform Republicans on side but some progressives hold out Guardian Archived from the original on 14 February 2021 Retrieved 27 November 2018 Grassley Chuck 2018 12 13 S 3747 115th Congress 2017 2018 First Step Act of 2018 www congress gov Archived from the original on 2021 02 14 Retrieved 2020 05 25 Grassley Chuck 2018 12 13 Text S 3747 115th Congress 2017 2018 First Step Act of 2018 www congress gov Archived from the original on 2021 02 14 Retrieved 2020 05 25 a b c Karni Annie 2018 12 14 The Senate Passed the Criminal Justice Bill For Jared Kushner It s a Personal Issue and a Rare Victory The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on 2020 03 09 Retrieved 2020 05 26 The Amending Process in the Senate Congressional Research Service September 16 2015 Archived from the original on February 14 2021 Retrieved May 26 2020 a b Kennedy John 2018 12 18 S Amdt 4109 to S Amdt 4108 to S 756 115th Congress 2017 2018 Actions www congress gov Archived from the original on 2021 02 14 Retrieved 2020 05 26 Sens John Kennedy R La and Tom Cotton R Ark Introduce Amendment to Criminal Justice Reform Bill U S Senator John Kennedy Archived from the original on 2021 02 14 Retrieved 2020 05 26 Min Kim Seung December 12 2018 Cotton to demand vote in effort to further restrict criminal justice system overhaul The Washington Post Archived from the original on February 14 2021 Retrieved May 25 2020 a b Senate Congressional Record Pages S7742 43 PDF Congressional Record December 18 2020 Archived PDF from the original on 2020 07 10 Retrieved May 25 2020 Sullivan Dan 2018 12 21 Text S 756 115th Congress 2017 2018 First Step Act of 2018 www congress gov Archived from the original on 2020 07 10 Retrieved 2020 05 25 a b Sullivan Dan 2018 12 21 Actions S 756 115th Congress 2017 2018 First Step Act of 2018 www congress gov Archived from the original on 2020 05 29 Retrieved 2020 05 26 Statement on Signing the First Step Act of 2018 PDF GPO December 21 2018 Archived PDF from the original on July 13 2020 Retrieved May 23 2020 Sullivan Dan 2018 12 21 Text S 756 115th Congress 2017 2018 First Step Act of 2018 www congress gov Archived from the original on 2020 07 22 Retrieved 2020 05 25 Jeremy Diamond Alex Rogers 19 December 2018 How Jared Kushner Kim Kardashian West and Congress drove the criminal justice overhaul CNN Archived from the original on 2019 12 22 Retrieved 2019 03 12 Conservative Leaders Letter to President Trump Expressing Support for First Step Act Federal Sentencing Reporter 31 2 160 167 2018 12 01 doi 10 1525 fsr 2018 31 2 160 ISSN 1053 9867 S2CID 239609092 Archived from the original on 2020 07 15 Retrieved 2020 05 26 a b S 756 FIRST Step Act Senate Vote 271 Dec 18 2018 GovTrack us Archived from the original on 2020 04 22 Retrieved 2020 05 26 Sen Cruz Releases Statement on His Support for a Revised Version of the First Step Act www cruz senate gov 7 December 2018 Archived from the original on 2020 07 15 Retrieved 2020 05 26 S 756 First Step Act House Vote 448 Dec 20 2018 GovTrack us Archived from the original on 2020 07 05 Retrieved 2020 05 26 Austin Jr Roy L 2018 12 07 Opinion The First Step Act Is A Step Not Worth Taking HuffPost Archived from the original on 2020 06 08 Retrieved 2020 05 26 The First Step Act Criminal Justice Reform at a Bipartisan Tipping Point Denver Law Archived from the original on 2020 07 06 Retrieved 2020 05 30 Table III States at Large Table Office of the Law Revision Counsel United States Code Archived from the original on July 11 2020 Retrieved May 25 2020 USC02 18 USC 3631 Duties of the Attorney General uscode house gov Archived from the original on 2020 07 31 Retrieved 2020 05 25 USC02 18 USC 3624 Release of a prisoner uscode house gov Archived from the original on 2020 07 31 Retrieved 2020 05 25 Historic Criminal Justice Reforms Begin to Take Effect Brennan Center for Justice Archived from the original on 2020 05 01 Retrieved 2020 05 25 USC02 18 USC 3621 Imprisonment of a convicted person uscode house gov Archived from the original on 2020 07 05 Retrieved 2020 05 25 18 U S Code 4050 Secure firearms storage LII Legal Information Institute Archived from the original on 2020 07 10 Retrieved 2020 05 25 USC02 18 USC 4322 Use of restraints on prisoners during the period of pregnancy labor and postpartum recovery prohibited uscode house gov Archived from the original on 2020 07 15 Retrieved 2020 05 25 18 U S Code 3553 Imposition of a sentence LII Legal Information Institute Archived from the original on 2020 06 07 Retrieved 2020 05 25 18 U S Code 924 Penalties LII Legal Information Institute Archived from the original on 2020 06 04 Retrieved 2020 05 26 Senate Congressional Record Page S7314 PDF Congressional Record December 5 2018 Archived PDF from the original on 2020 07 31 Retrieved May 25 2020 21 U S Code 841 Prohibited acts A LII Legal Information Institute Archived from the original on 2020 05 22 Retrieved 2020 05 26 Russell Sarah French 2019 12 01 Second Looks at Sentences under the First Step Act Federal Sentencing Reporter 32 2 76 85 doi 10 1525 fsr 2019 32 2 76 ISSN 1053 9867 Archived from the original on 2020 07 08 Retrieved 2020 05 26 Zapotosky Matt July 19 2020 3 100 inmates to be released as Trump administration implements criminal justice reform The Washington Post Archived from the original on May 17 2020 Retrieved May 25 2020 a b One Year After the First Step Act Mixed Outcomes PDF The Sentencing Project December 2019 Archived PDF from the original on July 18 2020 Retrieved May 25 2020 a b Satija Neena November 7 2019 Trump boasts that his landmark law is freeing these inmates His Justice Department wants them to stay in prison The Washington Post Archived from the original on May 23 2020 Retrieved May 25 2020 Applewhite J Scott 2019 03 12 First Step Act Comes Up Short in Trump s 2020 Budget The Marshall Project Associated Press Archived from the original on 2020 05 24 Retrieved 2020 05 26 Department Of Justice Announces the Release of 3 100 Inmates Under First Step Act Publishes Risk And Needs Assessment System www justice gov 2019 07 19 Retrieved 2020 05 26 The First Step Act of 2018 Risk and Needs Assessment System PDF Department of Justice July 19 2019 Archived PDF from the original on May 28 2020 Retrieved May 25 2020 Comment Letter to Department of Justice on Pattern First Step Act The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Archived from the original on 2020 07 22 Retrieved 2020 05 26 Department of Justice Announces Enhancements to the Risk Assessment System and Updates on First Step Act Implementation www justice gov 2020 01 15 Archived from the original on 2020 05 25 Retrieved 2020 05 26 Harnik Andrew 2020 03 28 How Bill Barr s COVID 19 Prisoner Release Plan Could Favor White People The Marshall Project Associated Press Archived from the original on 2020 05 28 Retrieved 2020 05 26 Gerstein Josh 3 April 2020 Barr to speed releases at federal prisons hard hit by virus Politico Archived from the original on 2020 06 02 Retrieved 2020 05 26 18 U S Code 3582 Imposition of a sentence of imprisonment LII Legal Information Institute Archived from the original on 2020 07 18 Retrieved 2020 05 26 United States v McCarthy CRIM CASE NO 3 17 CR 0230 JCH Casetext Search Citator casetext com Archived from the original on 2020 07 31 Retrieved 2020 05 26 a b Federal Prisoners and COVID 19 Background and Authorities to Grant Release Congressional Research Service April 27 2020 Archived from the original on May 28 2020 Retrieved May 25 2020 a b United States v Flenory PDF U S District Court of for the Eastern District of Michigan May 5 2020 Archived PDF from the original on July 12 2020 Retrieved May 26 2020 United States v Scparta Politico April 19 2020 Archived from the original on April 24 2020 Retrieved May 25 2020 Thinking beyond prisoner reform to reintegration The Hill 15 March 2019 Archived from the original on 2 August 2019 Retrieved 2 August 2019 Booker Cory A 2019 03 07 Actions S 697 116th Congress 2019 2020 Next Step Act of 2019 www congress gov Archived from the original on 2020 07 16 Retrieved 2020 05 26 Remarks at a Prison Reform Summit and First Step Act Celebration PDF GPO April 1 2019 Archived PDF from the original on July 11 2020 Retrieved May 25 2019 Note Recent Case Seventh Circuit Holds Above Guidelines Sentence Was Inadequately Justified But Foreshadows Same Sentence on Remand 134 Harv L Rev 1855 2021 United States v Jones 2012 962 F 3d 956 7th Cir 2020 Nanos Eluna June 14 2021 SCOTUS Unanimously Rules Against Crack Cocaine Defendant But Justices Thomas and Sotomayor Still Found a Way to Disagree Law amp Crime Retrieved June 14 2021 External links editFirst Step Act of 2018 PDF details as amended in the GPO Statute Compilations collection First Step Act of 2018 PDF details as enacted in the US Statutes at Large Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title First Step Act amp oldid 1188037689, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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