H.R. 5682 (115^th): FIRST STEP Act

This position statement was submitted by R Street Institute on Oct 15, 2018.

SpendingTracker.org estimates H.R. 5682 will save $127 million through 2028.

This position statement was submitted by Women Against Registry on May 17, 2018.

Women Against Registry is a nationwide organization advocating for the families who have loved ones on the sex offender registry. Currently, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) there are 874,000 men, women and children (as young as 8 and 10 in some states) registrants across America. The "crimes" range from urinating in public (indecent exposure), sexting, incest, mooning, exposure, false accusations by a soon-to-be ex-wife, angry girlfriend, or spiteful student, viewing abusive OR suggestive images of anyone 18 years old or younger, playing doctor, prostitution, solicitation, Romeo and Juliet consensual sexual dating relationships, rape, endangering the welfare of a child, the old bait-n-switch internet stings (taking sometimes 12 months before a person steps over the line) guys on the autism spectrum or with intellectual disabilities and many others. This impacts approximately three million families to various degrees.

We write today to share our concerns about the FIRST STEP Act, as well as any effort to pass criminal justice reform legislation that does not include a sentencing reform component. The FIRST STEP Act does include several important reforms, and improves on prior legislation, but it does not take steps to reduce the number of people entering prison in the first place. The use of diversion programs would greatly impact the lives of our families. While the incarceration rate has begun to drop we are still known as ‘the incarceration nation with 5% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s incarcerated. Any true reform effort must start with sentencing reform, and we urge you to either revise the bill to add such measures or commit to advancing the Act only in tandem with a companion, robust sentencing reform bill. Our objective should center around the Restorative Justice goals of restoring the victim, offender AND community instead of lengthy state and federal sentencing. Our families’ ability regarding restoration is compounded by the stigma and never-ending punishments. We experience the collateral damage of murder, harassment, threats, our children beaten, signs placed in our yards, homes set on fire, vehicles damaged, asked to leave our churches and other organizations, children passed over for higher education opportunities, flyers distributed around the neighborhood, wives lose their jobs when someone learns we are married to or in a relationship with a registrant. All if this while trying to hold our families together and provide the three things that professionals state which are needed for successful re-integration; a job, a place to live and a “positive” support system.

Our families are always excluded from any type of relief or privileges other citizens appreciate at restoration. Please reconsider our families and include them in the First Step Act. Positive steps are needed with regard to our issue too.

Sentencing reform must be addressed and the FIRST STEP Act falls short. This leaves the impression that Congress is comfortable with the manner of change. Our families experience long sentences for non-contact non-violent offenses and the offense language continuously gets expanded casting a wider net.

If Congress were to advance the FIRST STEP Act without sentencing reform, it would effectively nullify its own leadership on criminal justice reform. Much attention should be given to the current conversation lead by Jared Kushner regarding his family experience with is father’s incarceration.

Women Against Registry urges your Committees to continue working to improve the FIRST STEP Act, and to advance it only alongside meaningful sentencing reform legislation.

Sincerely, Vicki L. Henry President – Women Against Registry 800-311-3764

This position statement was submitted by #cut50 on May 14, 2018.

We envision a criminal justice system that recognizes the humanity of the 2.2 million people currently behind bars in America and moves toward compassion and treatment rather than punishment and incarceration. The FIRST STEP Act falls in line with our mission by improving the conditions for incarcerated individuals, reducing the amount of time people spend in prison, and provide meaningful opportunities to successfully transition into their communities.

We are thankful for the efforts of Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and Congressman Doug Collins to work in a bipartisan fashion that greatly improves this bill with meaningful reform. They worked together with groups of advocates, fellow Members of Congress, and heard directly from formerly incarcerated individuals with lived experiences through the federal prison system. 

In 2015, 3 out of 10 federal prisoners and 6 out of 10 state prisoners released to a term of community supervision returned to prison within 5 years.  Far too many struggle with unemployment, housing instability, and substance addiction when they come home. Many have difficulty overcoming the trauma they experienced during their incarceration and reestablishing ties to family and community that were damaged by their incarceration. We strongly believe that the provisions of HR 5682 will lead to better outcomes for individuals reintegrating back into their communities. Establishing a system that provides guidance and intensity of evidenced-based recidivism reduction programming will provide the necessary resources for individuals to prepare for release. 

This bill works to improve the lives of the incarcerated men and women, their children, and their families by:

Reducing the number of people incarcerated in federal prisons This bill will immediately make deserving people in federal prison eligible for early release - by fixing a good time credit calculation retroactively. Men and women in incarcerated federal prison will earn nearly 8 weeks (54 days) per year off of their sentence for good time. Thousands more will soon become eligible to move from Bureau of Prisons facilities into home detention as a result of the expansion of the elderly prisoner pilot program - which gives people 60 years or older who have served more than 2/3 of their sentence an opportunity to serve the remainder of their sentence on home confinement.

The bill will expand the capacity of prison programming to ensure that individuals inside can benefit from counseling, drug treatment, training and education. By participating in programming, individuals will earn credits (at a rate of 10 days for every 30 of participating in programming) that allow them to shorten the amount of time they spend in prison and release back to their communities and families sooner - via expanded use of home confinement. It provides a pathway to prerelease for even those deemed “high” or “medium” risk.

Increasing opportunities for programming and work within the walls Currently, there is a significant lack of programming inside the federal prisons. HR 5682 authorizes $50,000,000 each year for FY 2019 through 2023 (quarter of a billion), which can be used for programming. This bill also allows more outside nonprofits, volunteers and faith-based groups to go into federal prisons to provide programming. These volunteers will not only provide critical programming, but also will serve as mentors to those inside and be a valuable asset in changing the culture within the institutions and bringing hope and compassion to those inside.

The bill also expands work programs so that those inside have an opportunity to work and save money in escrow accounts that they can use as they return home to get back on their feet. HR 5682 also creates an ID program so that men and women returning to society have identification necessary to gain benefits, housing, and employment.

Protecting Women and Facilitating Family Connections Currently, men and women can be housed thousands of miles away from their loved ones, left with little opportunity to maintain familial relationships that are critical to both their well being while inside and successful reentry. HR 5682 will require that people living in federal prisons be housed within 500 driving miles of their families. Allowing individuals to serve their sentences in facilities closer to their family support system, maintains a healthy bond and strong ties to the community.

In the last two decades, the women’s prison population has risen by 700%. Our prisons and policies were not designed to meet women’s needs and the result has been a system that traumatizes and endangers women. The FIRST STEP Act will end the shackling of women in labor and post partum. Shackling pregnant women is dangerous and inhumane. The shackling of pregnant women endangers the lives of the mother and fetus. HR 5682 sends a clear message of responsibility for the health and safety of both the mother and the fetus during pregnancy by banning the use of shackles. It will also provide hygiene items to women in prison at no charge and expand phone and visitation time that are vital to the rehabilitation process and to allowing the 80%of women who are mothers in prison stay connected to their children. The bill also contains a fix to Prison Rape Elimination Act, which will improve how the audits of prison rape incidents are conducted.

Providing Meaningful Oversight to Help Ensure Proper Implementation HR 5682 will also place additional layers of accountability and oversight within the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Additionally, there will be an annual accountability report to ensure that the risk assessment tool is being administered in an unbiased way. This is crucial as we continue to face vast racial disparities that negatively impact African American and Latino communities.

These are meaningful reforms. This is our best chance to pass this bill into law and dramatically change the lives of people inside - and expand accountability and oversight of the federal prison system. The passage of HR 5682 will truly be the first step towards further progress that we hope will eventually include sentencing reform.