{"id":352310,"date":"2024-01-23T15:50:52","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T20:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/criminal\/criminal-procedure\/sentencing-and-prison-reform-the-first-step-act.html"},"modified":"2024-01-23T15:50:52","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T20:50:52","slug":"sentencing-and-prison-reform-the-first-step-act","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/criminal\/criminal-procedure\/sentencing-and-prison-reform-the-first-step-act.html","title":{"rendered":"Sentencing and Prison Reform: The First Step Act"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sentencing and Prison Reform: The First Step Act<\/h1>\n
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\n By Sarah Williams, J.D.<\/a> | Legally reviewed by Melissa Bender, Esq.<\/a>\n | Last updated\n
\n \n <\/i>\n Legally Reviewed\n <\/summary>\n\n
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This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n\n

\n \n <\/i>\n Fact-Checked\n <\/summary>\n\n
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The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

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Critics of mandatory minimums said that judges needed flexibility to individualize sentences. People from marginalized communities were facing tougher sentences than privileged defendants for the same crimes.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n

In late 2018, Congress enacted a sweeping prison reform legislation that President Donald Trump signed into law. The law was designed to shorten sentences and improve the conditions of incarcerated people.<\/p>\r\n

While momentous, the First Step Act<\/a> prison reforms applied only to the federal criminal justice system. It had a meaningful effect on defendants prosecuted for federal drug and firearms offenses. But there was no direct impact on the states that have the vast majority of prison inmates.<\/p>\r\n

This article presents information about the First Step Act, criticisms of this law, and prison and sentencing reform efforts.<\/p>\r\n

Background<\/h2>\r\n

The First Step Act of 2018 was a bipartisan congressional effort to reform prison law. Republicans and Democrats worked together to ease the budgetary burden of mass incarceration. Although the United States has less than 5% of the global population, it incarcerates nearly a quarter<\/a> of the world’s prison inmates.<\/p>\r\n

Under the First Step Act, the U.S. Attorney General developed a needs assessment system. This system is then used by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)<\/a> to calculate a prisoner’s recidivism risk and eligibility for early release.<\/p>\r\n

This reform bill also addresses racial inequities and aims to lessen federal sentencing punishments for nonviolent drug offenders.<\/p>\r\n

Mandatory Minimum Sentences Eased<\/h2>\r\n

One of the most significant changes<\/a> to result from the First Step Act relates to automatic sentences. Since the mid-1980s, most criminal justice reforms made prison sentences tougher. So, federal court judges sentenced defendants to a mandatory minimum number of years in prison. At the time, it was thought that rigid sentencing requirements would promote uniformity.<\/p>\r\n

In some cases, judges could no longer consider extenuating circumstances that might have resulted in more lenient sentences.<\/p>\r\n

The First Step Act did not repeal mandatory sentencing laws<\/a> but reduced the length of minimum sentences. This is commonly referred to as the ‘safety valve provision.’<\/p>\r\n

Now, people with a limited criminal history and who have a conviction for a low-level, nonviolent drug crime can face less than the required mandatory minimum sentence.<\/p>\r\n

For example, a defendant who faced a sentence of 20 years might now face 15 years. In some circumstances, the new law also gave judges greater discretion to ignore the mandatory minimum.<\/p>\r\n

But Congress didn’t make the shortened sentencing rule retroactive. Federal inmates already serving time gained no relief from the change in the law. Thousands of prisoners continue to serve long sentences in the federal prison system.<\/p>\r\n

Crack Cocaine Sentences Get Reduced<\/h2>\r\n

Federal inmates who may benefit most from the new law are people prosecuted for crack cocaine offenses before 2010. This unlucky group wasn’t covered by the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

The Fair Sentencing Act reduced the enormous disparity between criminal law sentencing for crack and powdered cocaine. Crack cocaine prosecutions more often affected black defendants, while powder cocaine prosecutions had a more significant impact on white defendants.<\/p>\r\n

Like the First Step Act, the Fair Sentencing Act was not retroactive when it was initially passed. But the 2018 prison reform law<\/a> finally made the cocaine sentencing law retroactive. So, crack cocaine offenders could petition for reductions in their prison terms.<\/p>\r\n

Other Provisions of the First Step Prison Reform Act<\/h2>\r\n

Other noteworthy reforms of the 2018 First Step Act included:<\/p>\r\n