FIRST STEP Act: Reforming Corrections Programs to Reduce Recidivism (H.R. 5682)

What is H.R. 5682?

(Updated July 9, 2019)

This bill — the FIRST STEP Act — would implement reforms to the federal prison system to control corrections spending, manage the prison population, provide educational and vocational training to inmates so they can successfully reenter society, and reduce recidivism.

The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) would be required to conduct risk- and needs-assessments for every offender upon sentencing and offer individualized, evidence-based recidivism reduction plans to all inmates. Programs could include vocational training, educational support, substance abuse treatment, mental healthcare, anger management courses, faith-based initiatives or other proven resources.

Inmates would be able to earn credits toward an alternative custody arrangement — such as a halfway house or home confinement — at the end of their prison sentences. Certain criminals would be ineligible for the alternative custody program, including high-risk sexual offenders, murderers, and others.

The BOP would be required to provide a secure storage area outside the secure perimeter for employees to store firearms or to allow for vehicle lock boxes for firearms so corrections officers can protect themselves if they’re ambushed when leaving work. BOP would also be required to offer de-escalation training as part of the regular training requirements of correctional officers.

The federal prison industries program would be expanded to provide more employment opportunities for inmates. BOP would be required to start pilot programs for youth mentorship and the training and therapy of rescue dogs, and it would also have to evaluate the current pilot program to treat heroin and opioid abuse through medication assisted treatment.

The bill also contains several reforms aimed at improving conditions for inmates, such as:

• The compassionate elderly release provision of the Second Chance Act, which allows the prisoner to request his or her compassionate release if they meet the law’s requirements, would be reauthorized.

• BOP rules on the use of restraints on pregnant inmates — which generally prohibit the use of restraints on pregnant inmates except for those who are an immediate and credible flight risk or threat of harm to herself, the baby, or others — would be codified into law.

• BOP would be required to place prisoners at a correctional facility within 500 driving miles of their primary residence that’s as close to home as possible, unless the prisoner chooses to remain at their current facility.

The bill’s full title is the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act.

Argument in favor

This bipartisan bill makes important reforms to the federal prison system to control costs while improving programs to reduce recidivism when prisoners are released.

Argument opposed

While the reforms to the federal prison system this bill offers may be worthwhile, it should be expanded to include reforms to shorten sentences for non-violent crime.

Impact

Prisoners and their families; corrections officers and BOP employees; communities and crime victims; and the BOP.

Cost of H.R. 5682

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) introduced this bill to reform the federal prison system to reduce recidivism among prisoners:

“What we have in the FIRST STEP Act is a rare legislative opportunity to fulfill the demands of justice today while reducing future burdens on the criminal justice system. By implementing initiatives focused on rehabilitating individual men and women, we can promote human dignity in and beyond our prison system. This bill would reunite families, create skilled workers, make our streets safer and promote the wellbeing of people who will eventually rejoin society.”

Original cosponsor Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) added:

“The mass incarceration epidemic  is 50 years in the making. Fixing our broken criminal justice system will take an all-hands-on-deck effort from my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. The FIRST STEP Act is a significant step in the right direction.”

Eric Holder, who served as U.S. Attorney General during the Obama administration, wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post opposing this bill for not including sentencing reforms:

“The bill seeks to improve prison conditions -- such as by requiring that inmates be housed within 500 driving miles of their families and by prohibiting shackles on pregnant women. It also includes education, job training and other personal development programs, as well as a system of incentives to participate in the programs. These narrow reforms are important, but they do not require congressional action, nor do they deliver the transformative change we need. The only way to do that is by amending the bill to include comprehensive, bipartisan sentencing reform.”

This legislation passed the House Judiciary Committee on a 25-5 vote and has the support of 19 bipartisan cosponsors, including 10 Republicans and nine Democrats.

Media:

• Sponsoring Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) Press Release
  
• House Judiciary Committee Press Release
  
• FAMM (In Favor)
  
• FreedomWorks (In Favor)
  
• Center for American Progress (Partial Support)
  
• Center for Immigration Studies (Opposed)
  
• The Washington Post (Op-Ed Opposed)