Cecily Zamora
The First Step Act is a US federal law that seeks to reduce mass incarceration and improve the fairness of the justice system. The law was signed by President Donald Trump on December 21, 2018, and came into effect as Public Law 115–391. The First Step Act has two primary objectives: to shorten federal prison sentences and to provide individuals with additional opportunities to avoid mandatory minimum penalties. The law also aims to improve conditions in federal prisons by eliminating inhumane practices and encouraging the placement of prisoners in facilities closer to their families. Additionally, the act expands opportunities for rehabilitation and education, with the goal of reducing recidivism rates. The First Step Act has been largely viewed as a success, with a notable decrease in the federal prison population and positive results reported by the Department of Justice.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To make the federal justice system fairer and more focused on rehabilitation |
| Impact | Within the first year of enactment, more than 3,000 federal prisoners were released, and more than 2,000 inmates benefited from sentence reductions. |
| Sentencing Reform | Shortens federal prison sentences and gives people additional chances to avoid mandatory minimum penalties by expanding a "safety valve". |
| Prison Reform | Improves conditions in federal prisons by curbing inhumane practices and encouraging placement in prisons closer to families. |
| Recidivism Reduction | Requires the Attorney General to develop a risk and needs assessment system to be used by BOP to assess the recidivism risk and criminogenic needs of all federal prisoners and to place them in recidivism-reducing programs and productive activities. |
| Time Credits | Allows incarcerated individuals to earn time credits for participating in recidivism reduction programming or productive activities, which can be applied toward early release. |
| Elderly and Terminally Ill Prisoners | Reauthorizes and modifies a pilot program that allows BOP to place certain elderly and terminally ill prisoners on home confinement to serve the remainder of their sentences. |
| Compassionate Release | Allows individuals with extraordinary and compelling circumstances, such as severe illness or old age, to bring their compassionate release applications directly to a federal judge. |
| Reporting Requirements | Requires DOJ to submit reports to Congress on various aspects of the FSA, including medication-assisted treatment of opioid and heroin abuse, and the Government Accountability Office to audit the new risk and needs assessment system. |
| Political Support | Passed with bipartisan support in both houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 21, 2018. |
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What You'll Learn
The First Step Act is a law that reduces mass incarceration
The First Step Act (FSA) is a law that came into force in 2018. It is a bipartisan bill that aims to reduce mass incarceration and make the federal justice system fairer and more focused on rehabilitation. The FSA achieves this through sentencing reform and by incentivizing prisoners to engage in rigorous, evidence-based rehabilitation and education programming.
The FSA gives judges more discretion to impose sentences lower than the statutory minimum in some cases. For example, people in federal prison for pre-2010 crack cocaine offenses became eligible to apply for resentencing to a shorter prison term. The FSA also makes retroactive the provisions of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which reduced the disparity in sentencing between crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses. This has resulted in shorter sentences for thousands of people.
The FSA also allows prisoners who present extraordinary and compelling circumstances, such as severe illness and/or old age, and who pose little risk to the community, to bring their compassionate release applications directly to a federal judge. Additionally, the FSA reauthorizes and modifies a pilot program that allows the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to place certain elderly and terminally ill prisoners on home confinement to serve the remainder of their sentences.
The FSA also requires the Attorney General to develop and publicly announce a risk and needs assessment system for all BOP inmates. This system, dubbed PATTERN ("Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs"), is designed to predict the likelihood of general and violent recidivism for all BOP inmates. Under the FSA, prisoners can earn time credits for participating in recidivism reduction programming or productive activities, which can later be applied toward early release from secure custody.
Overall, the First Step Act is a law that reduces mass incarceration by shortening federal prison sentences, expanding opportunities for rehabilitation and education, and providing a range of early release mechanisms for eligible individuals.
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It reforms sentencing, shortening prison terms
The First Step Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in 2018, is a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill. It aims to promote rehabilitation, lower recidivism, and reduce excessive sentences in the federal prison system. The Act has two main goals: to cut unnecessarily long federal sentences and improve conditions in federal prisons.
The First Step Act reforms sentencing by reducing certain mandatory minimum sentences. Before 2010, possession of 5 grams of crack cocaine, a form of the drug more common in the Black community, was punished as severely as possession of 500 grams of powder cocaine. The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 changed this, reducing the sentencing disparity from 100:1 to 18:1. However, this change was not retroactive, so people convicted under the old laws continued to serve longer sentences. The First Step Act addressed this issue by making the Fair Sentencing Act retroactive, allowing those convicted under the old laws to be resentenced. As a result, thousands of people have received shorter prison sentences. The Act also expands the "safety valve", which allows judges to impose sentences lower than the statutory minimum in certain cases.
The First Step Act also introduces a risk and needs assessment system, requiring the Attorney General to develop and publicly announce this system within 180 days of the enactment of the Act. This system is designed to assess the recidivism risk and needs of all federal prisoners and to place them in appropriate recidivism reduction programs and productive activities. These programs include vocational training, educational classes, and behavioral therapy. Prisoners can earn "time credits" by participating in these programs, which can be used to reduce their sentences or qualify them for placement in prerelease custody, such as a halfway house or home confinement.
Additionally, the First Step Act reauthorizes and expands a pilot program that allows the Bureau of Prisons to place certain elderly and terminally ill prisoners on home confinement for the remainder of their sentences. It also encourages the placement of low-risk prisoners in facilities closer to their primary residences and prioritises the transfer of prisoners with COVID-19 risk factors to home confinement.
Overall, the First Step Act has been successful in reducing incarceration rates and improving fairness in federal sentencing. However, there are still areas where further advocacy and congressional oversight are needed, such as addressing racial algorithmic bias in the PATTERN risk and needs assessment tool and ensuring the proper implementation of sentencing reduction reforms.
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It incentivises rehabilitation and education
The First Step Act (FSA) was enacted into law by President Donald Trump on December 21, 2018. It is a federal criminal justice reform that seeks to incentivize rehabilitation and education.
The Act incentivizes incarcerated individuals to engage in rigorous, evidence-based rehabilitation and education programming. Inmates who successfully complete recidivism reduction programming and productive activities can earn time credits that will qualify them for placement in prerelease custody, such as a halfway house or home confinement. This enables them to finish their sentence outside of prison.
The First Step Act calls for the Bureau of Prisons to significantly expand these opportunities. Within a few years, the BOP must have "evidence-based recidivism reduction programs and productive activities" available for all people in prison. This includes vocational training, educational classes, and behavioral therapy.
The Act also moderates specific mandatory minimum sentences, giving judges greater discretion during sentencing. This includes limiting the application of mandatory minimum sentences to serious drug offenses.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) reports promising results thus far. The recidivism rate among people who have benefitted from the law is considerably lower than those who were released from prison without the benefit of the law.
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It allows inmates to earn time credits
The First Step Act (FSA) was signed into law by President Trump on December 21, 2018. The act was the result of a bipartisan effort to improve criminal justice outcomes and reduce the federal prison population.
The First Step Act allows inmates to earn time credits by participating in recidivism reduction programming or productive activities. These time credits can then be applied toward early release from secure custody. The act amends 18 U.S.C. § 3624(b) so that federal inmates can earn up to 54 days of good time credit for every year of their imposed sentence, rather than for every year of their sentence served. This means that an offender sentenced to 10 years in prison who earns the maximum good time credits each year will earn 540 days of credit.
Inmates who successfully complete recidivism reduction programming and productive activities can earn time credits that will qualify them for placement in prerelease custody. The First Step Act also reauthorizes and modifies a pilot program that allows the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to place certain elderly and terminally ill prisoners on home confinement to serve the remainder of their sentences.
The act includes several requirements for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and its components, including the BOP, to develop and implement a risk and needs assessment system, provide evidence-based recidivism reduction programs, and apply time credits toward early release. The PATTERN ("Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs") tool, mandated by the First Step Act, is designed to predict the likelihood of general and violent recidivism for all BOP inmates.
The First Step Act's sentencing reforms have led to shorter prison terms and reduced incarceration rates. Within the first year of enactment, more than 3,000 federal prisoners were released based on changes to the good-time credits calculation formula. The act has also been criticized for not delivering enough relief to prisoners and for being interpreted narrowly by the Department of Justice.
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It aims to reduce recidivism
The First Step Act (FSA) is a federal law in the United States that aims to reduce recidivism. The law accomplishes two main goals, both aimed at making the federal justice system fairer and more focused on rehabilitation. Firstly, it reforms sentencing by reducing federal prison sentences and giving people additional chances to avoid mandatory minimum penalties. Secondly, it improves prison conditions by curbing inhumane practices and encouraging the use of rehabilitative programming.
The FSA requires the Attorney General to develop a risk and needs assessment system to be used by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to assess the recidivism risk and criminogenic needs of all federal prisoners. This system is designed to predict the likelihood of general and violent recidivism for all BOP inmates and is used to classify prisoners into risk categories, match them with suitable recidivism reduction activities, and inform housing decisions. The FSA also provides guidance on the type, amount, and intensity of recidivism reduction programming and productive activities that each prisoner should participate in, based on their criminogenic needs. Inmates who successfully complete recidivism reduction programming and productive activities can earn time credits that qualify them for placement in prerelease custody, such as home confinement or a Residential Reentry Center.
The FSA has led to a significant decrease in incarceration rates. Within the first year of its enactment, more than 3,000 federal prisoners were released due to changes in the good-time credits calculation formula, and over 2,000 inmates benefited from sentence reductions through the retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. The recidivism rate for people released under the FSA is estimated to be considerably lower than for those released before the FSA. According to the BOP's published data, the recidivism rate for all people released under the FSA is 9.7%, compared to a 44.8% recidivism rate for all people released from BOP facilities in 2019.
However, it is important to note that the FSA's impact on recidivism rates is complex and multifaceted. While the FSA has led to a decrease in overall incarceration rates, the federal prison population remains high. Additionally, there have been criticisms of the FSA's implementation, with allegations of racial algorithmic bias in the risk and needs assessment tool, and disputes over the interpretation of the law. A comprehensive and individual-level study is necessary to fully evaluate the impact of the FSA on recidivism rates.
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Frequently asked questions
The First Step Act is a federal law that aims to reduce mass incarceration and make the federal justice system fairer and more focused on rehabilitation.
The First Step Act accomplishes two main things: it reforms sentencing and it improves prison conditions. In terms of sentencing, it expands a "safety valve" that allows judges to impose sentences lower than the statutory minimum in certain cases. It also makes the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 retroactive, reducing the disparity in sentencing for crack cocaine offenses. As for prison conditions, the law seeks to curb inhumane practices, such as the use of restraints on pregnant women, and encourages placing prisoners in facilities closer to their families. It also expands opportunities for prisoners to participate in rehabilitative programming and education.
The First Step Act was passed by the U.S. Senate on December 18, 2018, and approved by the House on December 20, 2018. It was then signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 21, 2018.
The First Step Act has led to a decrease in incarceration. Within the first year of enactment, more than 3,000 federal prisoners were released, and the federal prison population decreased by around 5,000 people. It has also resulted in shorter prison sentences for people convicted of crack cocaine offenses and expanded opportunities for early release and compassionate release for certain prisoners. However, there have been criticisms of the law's implementation, with some arguing that it has not delivered enough relief to prisoners and that the Department of Justice has not properly applied the law.
