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I wanted to share my thoughts with you all in a quick thread on the FIRST STEP Act, a criminal justice reform bill that the Senate will begin voting on tonight.
Americans deserve a criminal justice system that is both fair and smart. By passing the FIRST STEP Act, we can start to make our criminal justice system smarter.
For too long sentencing has been overly severe & disproportionately targeted communities of color – especially Black men.
This bill reforms some of the most draconian federal sentencing laws, including unfair mandatory minimum sentences under two- and three-strikes laws, and retroactively applying the reduced sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine.
It allows judges greater discretion to reduce unfair sentences for low-level, nonviolent drug offenders and eliminate unjust sentencing enhancement.
It also enables the use of good time credits, provides greater access to education and substance abuse treatment. It eliminates the shackling of pregnant prisoners, requires healthcare products for incarcerated women, and ends federal juvenile solitary confinement.
But, to be clear, the FIRST STEP Act is very much just that – a first step. It is a compromise of a compromise, and we ultimately need to make far greater reforms if we are to right the wrongs that exist in our criminal justice system.
To start: all of the bill’s sentencing reforms should be applied retroactively.
It should also further expand application of earned good time credits, place more prohibitions on private prisons which profit from the incarceration of individuals, and further limit the use of electronic monitoring.
Despite these concerns, overall, this measure takes positive steps to improve our justice system, and I intend to vote for it.
