Small, and not quite steady, reform progress in a not quite new era for criminal justice reform

An interesting set of new press pieces highlight ways in which the criminal justice times seem to be a-changing during the Biden era, but not yet quite as much or as fast as lots of advocates might be hoping or expecting.  Here they are with a brief excerpt:

From BuzzFeed News, "COVID-19 Has Torn Through Prisons. Advocates Want Biden To Act Now"

Nearly all of the groups who spoke with BuzzFeed News said that they’ve participated in briefings and have had conversations with White House staff to raise concerns about BOP policy, including compassionate release and underused policies to thin prison populations during the pandemic.  Advocates have specifically pushed the administration to direct the BOP to use its expanded authority to grant home confinement under last year’s coronavirus relief plan.

Advocates have had a mixed response to those conversations, with optimism about prospective change mingled with frustration about slow-moving progress.

From Slate, "The Biden Administration Takes a Step Toward Undoing the Damage of the War on Drugs"

In September, [Tarahrick] Terry petitioned the Supreme Court saying he qualified for a sentence reduction [of his 188-month sentence for possessing 3.9 grams of crack cocaine in 2008], because the First Step Act made 2010’s Fair Sentencing Act retroactive. His case got a boost earlier this week, when President Biden’s Justice Department informed the Supreme Court they believe that Terry, and others who were incarcerated for low-level crack cocaine offenses, should have their sentences reduced under the First Step Act. The court plans to hear the case later this year.

From Vox, "The EQUAL Act would finally close the cocaine sentencing disparity"

Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE) and Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) have already cosponsored [the EQUAL Act]. But in a statement to Vox, Bacon was less optimistic about the timeline, even as he said that eliminating the cocaine sentencing disparity is only one part of a broader justice reform push he wants to tackle.

“While I am optimistic it will be voted on in the House this Congress, I don’t have a projected timeline for the bill at this stage and hope to gain more bipartisan support as it makes its way through the legislative process,” he said. The Senate is where it will be more critical to find Republican support, considering the chamber’s 50-50 split. Thus far, only Sens. Cory Booker and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) have signed on.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, who worked with Durbin to introduce and shepherd the First Step Act through the Senate, would be a critical part of any bipartisan negotiation. In a statement to Vox, a spokesperson for Grassley said he was receptive to working with Democrats on the EQUAL Act, but that that process had not begun yet.