Durbin, Grassley Reintroduce Criminal Justice Reform Bills

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the lead sponsors of the landmark First Step Act (FSA), reintroduced three pieces of criminal justice reform legislation today to further implement the FSA and advance its goals.  The First Step Act, which was signed into law in 2018, is bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation designed to make our justice system fairer and our communities safer by reforming sentencing laws and providing opportunities for those who are incarcerated to prepare to reenter society successfully.  Today, Durbin and Grassley reintroduced the First Step Implementation Act, the Safer Detention Act, and the Terry Technical Correction Act.

“In 2018, Congress came together to pass the most important criminal justice reform law in a generation,” Durbin said.  “But as its name suggests, it was just the first step.  In order to keep making our justice system fairer and our communities safer, we must continue reforming our antiquated and outdated sentencing laws and providing opportunities for those who are incarcerated to prepare to reenter society successfully.  Senator Grassley and I will continue to work together to ensure that these goals are fully met.”

“Criminals need to face just penalties, and our system should seek to prevent recidivism. Our work on the First Step Act did that, and our new package of bills will further the goals of fairness, public safety and reduced crime. The programs we are bolstering aim to help make inmates productive citizens when they reenter society, and not fall back into a life of crime. I appreciate my longtime cooperation with Senator Durbin, and look forward to the work ahead,” said Grassley.

First Step Implementation Act

The bipartisan First Step Implementation Act of 2023 aims to further implement the FSA and advance its goals.  The First Step Implementation Act would further the goals of the FSA by:

1. Allowing courts to apply the FSA sentencing reform provisions to reduce sentences imposed prior to the enactment of the FSA;
2. Broadening the safety valve provision to allow courts to sentence below a mandatory minimum for nonviolent controlled substance offenses, if the court finds the defendant’s criminal history over-represents the seriousness of the defendant’s criminal record and the likelihood of recidivism;
3. Allowing courts to reduce sentences imposed on juvenile offenders who have served more than 20 years;
4. Providing for the sealing or expungement of records of nonviolent juvenile offenses; and,
5. Requiring the Attorney General to establish procedures ensuring that only accurate criminal records are shared for employment-related purposes.

Joining Durbin and Grassley in cosponsoring the legislation are Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Van Hollen (D-MD), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

The legislation is endorsed by the following organizations: Coalition for Juvenile Justice; Dream.org; Drug Policy Alliance; Due Process Institute; FAMM; Federal Public and Community Defenders; Justice Action Network; National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; National Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Coalition; Prison Fellowship; Human Rights for Kids; and R Street Institute.

Bill text is available here.

Safer Detention Act

The bipartisan Safer Detention Act of 2023 would reform the Elderly Home Detention Pilot Program and compassionate release from federal prisons.  Specifically, the Safer Detention Act would reform the Elderly Home Detention Pilot Program and compassionate release by:

1. Clarifying that the percentage of time served required for the Elderly Home Detention Pilot Program should be calculated based on an inmate’s sentence, including reductions for good conduct time credits;
2. Expanding the eligibility criteria for the Elderly Home Detention Pilot Program to include nonviolent offenders who have served at least 50 percent of their terms of imprisonment;
3. Clarifying that elderly nonviolent D.C. Code offenders in BOP custody are eligible for the Elderly Home Detention Pilot Program and that federal prisoners sentenced before November 1, 1987 are eligible for compassionate release; and,
4. Subjecting elderly home detention eligibility decisions to judicial review (based on the First Step Act’s compassionate release provision).

Joining Durbin and Grassley in cosponsoring the legislation are Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Chris Coons (D-DE).

The legislation is endorsed by the following organizations: Drug Policy Alliance; Due Process Institute; FAMM; Federal Public and Community Defenders; Innocence Project; Justice Action Network; National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL); Prison Fellowship; Sentencing Project; Dream.org; Tzedek Association; Law Enforcement Leaders; and Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

Bill text is available here.

Terry Technical Correction Act

The bipartisan Terry Technical Correction Act clarifies that all offenders who were sentenced for a crack cocaine offense before the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 can apply for its retroactive application under Section 404 of the First Step Act, including individuals convicted of the lowest level crack offenses.  Section 404 of the First Step Act allows crack cocaine offenders to request a sentence reduction pursuant to the Fair Sentencing Act.  The Fair Sentencing Act, authored by Durbin, reduced the federal sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine from 100:1 to 18:1. 

Along with Durbin and Grassley, this legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Mike Lee (R-UT), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).  In 2018, Durbin, Grassley, Booker, and Lee were the lead sponsors of the First Step Act, which made the Fair Sentencing Act retroactive.

The legislation is endorsed by the following organizations: Dream.org; Drug Policy Alliance; Due Process Institute; FAMM; Federal Public and Community Defenders; Justice Action Network; Justice Roundtable; The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Major Cities Chiefs Association; National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; National District Attorneys Association; Niskanen Center; Sentencing Project; R Street Institute; American Conservative Union; Law Enforcement Leaders; and Prison Fellowship.

Bill text is available here.

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