Thursday, May 24, 2018

 

PMT: The First Step Act


Late on Tuesday, the House passed the First Step Act, which would make a series of simple and relatively small reforms to the federal prison and re-entry system. According to FAMM, it provides that:

  1. Adjusts good time credit calculation so that prisoners receive 54 days of good time
    credit per year, not 47 days, for following prison rules. This change to good credit time
    would be retroactive;
  2. Requires BOP [Bureau of Prisons] to put lower-risk, lower-needs people in home confinement for the full
    amount of time permitted under current law (10 percent of the person’s sentence or 6
    months, whichever is less);
  3. Requires the BOP to place prisoners within 500 driving miles, not air miles, of
    home, if security classification, programming and medical needs, and bed space allow it;
  4. Reforms the BOP’s compassionate release process for prisoners facing “extraordinary
    and compelling” circumstances, including
    • -  Allowing prisoners to appeal denials of compassionate release to federal courts after
      all other BOP remedies have been exhausted or at least 30 days have passed since the
      request was submitted;
    • -  Requiring annual data reporting on BOP’s use of compassionate release;
    • -  Creating an expedited timeline for BOP consideration of compassionate release
      requests of terminally ill prisoners;
    • -  Permitting family members, lawyers, and BOP staff to help prisoners file
      compassionate release requests;
    • - Requiring better notice to BOP staff and prisoners of when compassionate release is available and how to ask for it;
  1. Authorizes $50 million in funding per year for 5 years for rehabilitative programs in federal prisons;
  2. Gives incentives to prisoners who cannot earn time credits for completing rehabilitative programs, including:
    • -  Up to 510 phone minutes per month (which prisoners must pay for);
    • -  Additional time for visits, determined by the warden;
    • -  Addition time using the BOP’s email system (which prisoners must pay for);
    • -  Transfer to a prison closer to the person’s home, if the warden approves;
    • -  Increased commissary spending limits and product offerings;
    • -  Consideration for transfer to preferred housing units;
  3. Requires BOP to help people get government identification cards and birth certificates before they leave prison;
  4. Reauthorizes an elderly prisoner early release pilot program from the Second Chance Act of 2007, allowing elderly and elderly terminally ill prisoners to be released from prison early if they are at least 60 years old, have served 2/3 of their sentences, and meet all of the other requirements;
  5. Bans shackling of pregnant women in federal prisons and jails;
  6. Expands Federal Prison Industries;
  7. Requires BOP to expand programs quickly, putting them in place for all eligible
    prisoners within three years of the bill’s passage. During this phase-in period, prisoners closest to release get priority for being placed in programs. After the phase-in period, medium- and higher-risk prisoners are given priority to be placed in programs, while jobs are prioritized for minimum- and low-risk prisoners.
That's all good, right? Well, yeah, but compared to the complete agenda for reform, it is pretty slight. Still, it is something.

The politics on this have become fascinating. There is a stunningly rare bipartisanship on both the pro and con side. Check out these lists of opponents and supporters of the bill:

Opponents (all except Cotton oppose because it does not include more):

ACLU
NAACP
Brennan Center
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-OK)
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA)
Sen Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Eric Holder

Supporters:

FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums)
CAN-Do Foundation
Van Jones
Trump Administration
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Rep Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)
Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA)

The Act passed overwhelmingly in the House, 360-59, but faces a tougher road in the Senate. 

I'm a supporter of the bill, even as I acknowledge it contains only a sliver of what I think is needed to make the federal criminal system humane. 

Perhaps most importantly, the bill represents a tiny step towards recognizing the human dignity of those in prison, and in the direction of preparing them for citizenship rather than eternal punishment. Momentum matters, and the fact that this slight movement is in the right direction matters to me. Moreover, it sends a message to the Bureau of Prisons that even the Trump Administration thinks that an approach to prison and sentencing rooted almost entirely on retribution is outdated and dangerous.

Doing a little is better than doing nothing. And once we do a little, we can do some more. And soon, the mountain can move. 



# posted by Mark Osler @ 12:00 AM
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