"3 more steps to make 'First Step Act' work"

The title of this post is the headline of this recent Hill commentary authored by Jessica Jackson. Here are excerpts:

The First Step Act aims to transform the federal prison system, prioritize rehabilitation over punishment, and reform some of our nation’s harshest prison sentences — remnants of the outdated War on Drugs.  While getting any meaningful legislation signed into law is worthy of celebration, in most cases it is just the beginning of a much longer battle. The hard work — the part that goes mostly unnoticed — is turning intentions into actual programs, procedures and outcomes for real people. To meet those goals, the Trump administration and Congress must follow through and implement the law quickly, fully and fairly.

Some of the most important provisions have taken effect immediately....  A total of four sentencing reforms began to take effect in courtrooms across the country the day after the bill was signed. In total, they will impact 25,000 defendants every year.

But challenges to fully implementing other provisions have been significant.  Just hours after President Trump signed the First Step Act into law, the federal government entered what would become the longest partial shutdown in history.  Key employees at the Department of Justice and White House were furloughed.  To add to the chaos, the Senate had not yet confirmed an attorney general.  The Bureau of Prisons has not had a permanent director since May 2018, when Mark Inch resigned.

Because of the lack of permanent leadership and the heated battle over border security funding, the first deadline laid out in the First Step Act came and went without effective action.  By Jan. 21, the Department of Justice was supposed to form an Independent Review Committee, which would be responsible for working with the Bureau of Prisons to create a new Risk and Needs Assessment across the federal prison system. One of the most critical components of the new law, the Risk and Needs Assessment System is relied upon by other key provisions.  The Review Committee has not yet been formed and further delays could significantly derail implementation efforts....

Now that leaders in Congress have reached a budget deal to fund the government through September and Attorney General William Barr has taken his oath of office, implementation of the First Step Act must pick up the pace and make up for lost time.

First, Attorney General Barr should nominate a permanent Director of the Bureau of Prisons and establish a credible and committed leader to steer the Bureau into a better future....

Second, Congressional Appropriations committee members must continue the bipartisan spirit that carried the First Step Act onto President Trump’s desk.  They can do so by fully funding the bill in Fiscal Year 2020.  This funding will allow for the valuable programming that will help people change their lives and earn time off the amount of time they have to serve behind the prison bars.

In fact, appropriators gave BOP $200 million more than the president’s budget requested, leaving ample flexibility to begin to implement the bill’s provisions.  As passed, First Step will require $75 million a year for five years to fund the expansion of prison programming and reentry preparedness.  This funding will become necessary after the Risk Assessment system is completed.  It will also allow people inside the prisons to take valuable, life-changing classes to prepare them to come home job-ready.

Finally, Congress must wield its oversight powers to ensure that implementation moves forward effectively and efficiently.  It is important to note that I am not calling for partisan hearings where House Democrats can score political points beating up on the administration’s failings.  Nor am I calling for opportunities for hard-line Senate Republicans to continue to trumpet the alleged dangers of being “soft on crime.”

Now that the First Step Act is the law of the land, both parties have good reason to keep a close watch. President Trump championed this bill as a rare bipartisan win for his administration.  Democrats vying for their party’s nomination have campaigned on the impact the bill will have on our justice system.  Nobody wins and everybody loses (most of all people in prison and their loved ones) if the First Step does not live up to its promise.