The Truth about the FIRST STEP Act

As a former federal prosecutor, I am clear-eyed about crime. Unlike some reformers, I don’t think our justice system is fundamentally broken, unjust, or corrupt. I have nothing but respect for law-enforcement officials, who put themselves in danger every single day in order to protect the public. I know from experience that dangerous criminals exist — individuals who are incapable of or uninterested in rehabilitation and change. We should throw the book at those people.

But my time as a prosecutor also tells me that not every criminal is dangerous or incapable of living a productive life. My faith as a Christian teaches me that many people are capable of redemption. And my instincts as a conservative make me believe that the government can be reformed to work better. For those reasons, I believe the FIRST STEP Act is legislation that deserves the support of all conservatives.

It deals primarily with time credits that federal inmates can use to secure their transfer from prison to pre-release custody — meaning home confinement, supervised release, or a halfway house. The bill clarifies that most prisoners can earn up to 54 days of credit per year if they “display exemplary compliance with institutional disciplinary regulations.” This is a modest change from existing law, which has been interpreted to allow 47 days of good-time credits per year. In addition, the bill creates a new credit for participating in recidivism-reduction programs or other productive activities that facilitate reentry into society.

Because most of the criticism of the FIRST STEP Act has focused on this recidivism-reduction credit, it’s worth outlining the specifics in more detail.

Not all inmates are eligible to earn the credit. The bill lists 50 offenses, conviction for which disqualifies inmates from the credit. The remaining inmates are eligible only if they are determined to be a minimum or low recidivism risk by the warden of their facility, based on data-based standards developed by the attorney general and an independent commission. For eligible inmates, the warden will individually tailor the type and amount of recidivism-reduction programming and productive activities.