News Alert: House Passes First Step Act by Overwhelming Majority

From NBC News

WASHINGTON — The House passed The First Step Act — the bipartisan criminal justice reform bill — by an overwhelming margin on Thursday, sending the legislation to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.

The House passed the bill by a 358 to 36 margin after the Senate passed it earlier this week by an 87 to 12 margin.

Soon after its passage, Trump tweeted that the measure represented a “great” bipartisan achievement.

Read the full article here.

By |2018-12-21T14:27:11-04:00December 21st, 2018|News|Comments Off on News Alert: House Passes First Step Act by Overwhelming Majority

News Alert: Senate Passes Bipartisan First Step Act

From the New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Senate overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday the most substantial changes in a generation to the tough-on-crime prison and sentencing laws that ballooned the federal prison population and created a criminal justice system that many conservatives and liberals view as costly and unfair.

The First Step Act would expand job training and other programming aimed at reducing recidivism rates among federal prisoners. It also expands early-release programs and modifies sentencing laws, including mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, to more equitably punish drug offenders.

But the legislation falls short of benchmarks set by a more expansive overhaul proposed in Congress during Barack Obama’s presidency and of the kinds of changes sought by some liberal and conservative activists targeting mass incarceration.

House leaders have pledged to pass the measure this week, and President Trump, whose support resuscitated a yearslong overhaul effort last month, said he would sign the bill.

Read the full article here. Additionally, the American Jail Association has set up an informational website on the bill.

By |2018-12-19T13:46:51-04:00December 19th, 2018|News|Comments Off on News Alert: Senate Passes Bipartisan First Step Act