WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip
Dick Durbin (D-IL), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator
Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the lead sponsors of the landmark First Step Act (FSA),
reintroduced three pieces of criminal justice reform legislation today to further
implement the FSA and advance its goals. The First Step Act, which was
signed into law in 2018, is bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation
designed to make our justice system fairer and our communities safer by
reforming sentencing laws and providing opportunities for those who are
incarcerated to prepare to reenter society successfully. Today, Durbin and
Grassley reintroduced the First Step Implementation Act, the Safer
Detention Act, and the Terry Technical Correction Act.
“In 2018, Congress
came together to pass the most important criminal justice reform law in a
generation,” Durbin said. “But as its name suggests, it was just the first step. In order to keep
making our justice system fairer and our communities safer, we must continue
reforming our antiquated and outdated sentencing laws and providing
opportunities for those who are incarcerated to prepare to reenter society
successfully. Senator Grassley and I will continue to work together to ensure
that these goals are fully met.”
“Criminals need
to face just penalties, and our system should seek to prevent recidivism. Our
work on the First Step Act did that, and our new package of bills will further
the goals of fairness, public safety and reduced crime. The programs we are
bolstering aim to help make inmates productive citizens when they reenter
society, and not fall back into a life of crime. I appreciate my longtime
cooperation with Senator Durbin, and look forward to the work ahead,” Grassley said.
First Step
Implementation Act
The bipartisan First Step
Implementation Act of 2023 aims to further implement the FSA and
advance its goals. The First Step Implementation Act would further the
goals of the FSA by:
- Allowing courts to apply the
FSA sentencing reform provisions to reduce sentences imposed prior to the
enactment of the FSA;
- Broadening the safety valve
provision to allow courts to sentence below a mandatory minimum for
nonviolent controlled substance offenses, if the court finds the
defendant’s criminal history over-represents the seriousness of the
defendant’s criminal record and the likelihood of recidivism;
- Allowing courts to reduce
sentences imposed on juvenile offenders who have served more than 20
years;
- Providing for the sealing or
expungement of records of nonviolent juvenile offenses; and,
- Requiring the Attorney General
to establish procedures ensuring that only accurate criminal records are
shared for employment-related purposes.
Joining Durbin and Grassley in
cosponsoring the legislation are Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy
Klobuchar (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI),
Van Hollen (D-MD), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Sherrod
Brown (D-OH).
The legislation is endorsed by the
following organizations: Coalition for Juvenile Justice; Dream.org; Drug Policy
Alliance; Due Process Institute; FAMM; Federal Public and Community Defenders;
Justice Action Network; National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers;
National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition; Prison
Fellowship; Human Rights for Kids; and R Street Institute.
Bill text is available
here.
Safer Detention Act
The bipartisan Safer Detention Act of
2023 would reform the Elderly Home Detention Pilot Program and
compassionate release from federal prisons. Specifically, the Safer
Detention Act would reform the Elderly Home Detention Pilot Program and
compassionate release by:
- Clarifying that the percentage
of time served required for the Elderly Home Detention Pilot Program
should be calculated based on an inmate’s sentence, including reductions
for good conduct time credits;
- Expanding the eligibility
criteria for the Elderly Home Detention Pilot Program to include
nonviolent offenders who have served at least 50 percent of their terms of
imprisonment;
- Clarifying that elderly
nonviolent D.C. Code offenders in BOP custody are eligible for the Elderly
Home Detention Pilot Program and that federal prisoners sentenced before
November 1, 1987 are eligible for compassionate release; and,
- Subjecting elderly home
detention eligibility decisions to judicial review (based on the First
Step Act’s compassionate release provision).
Joining Durbin and Grassley in
cosponsoring the legislation are Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Kevin
Cramer (R-ND), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Sherrod Brown (D-OH),
and Chris Coons (D-DE).
The legislation is endorsed by the
following organizations: Drug Policy Alliance; Due Process Institute; FAMM;
Federal Public and Community Defenders; Innocence Project; Justice Action
Network; National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL); Prison
Fellowship; Sentencing Project; Dream.org; Tzedek Association; Law Enforcement
Leaders; and Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
Bill text is available
here.
Terry Technical
Correction Act
The bipartisan Terry
Technical Correction Act clarifies that all offenders who were sentenced
for a crack cocaine offense before the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 can
apply for its retroactive application under Section 404 of the First Step
Act, including individuals convicted of the lowest level crack offenses. Section
404 of the First Step Act allows crack cocaine offenders to request a
sentence reduction pursuant to the Fair Sentencing Act. The Fair
Sentencing Act, authored by Durbin, reduced the federal sentencing
disparity between crack and powder cocaine from 100:1 to 18:1.
Along with Durbin and Grassley, this
legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Mike Lee
(R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). In 2018, Durbin, Grassley,
Booker, and Lee were the lead sponsors of the First Step Act, which made
the Fair Sentencing Act retroactive.
The legislation is endorsed by the following organizations: Dream.org; Drug Policy Alliance;
Due Process Institute; FAMM; Federal Public and Community Defenders; Justice
Action Network; Justice Roundtable; The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human
Rights; Major Cities Chiefs Association; National Association of Criminal
Defense Lawyers; National District Attorneys Association; Niskanen Center;
Sentencing Project; R Street Institute; American Conservative Union; Law
Enforcement Leaders; and Prison Fellowship.
Bill text is available
here.
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