Legislative Background on Criminal Justice Reform
Recent Action by Congress on the FIRST STEP Act
For the first time in nearly a decade, Congress is considering major criminal justice legislation, including reforms relating to sentencing, recidivism, and prisoner re-entry into society. The most recently enacted law addressing these issues was the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which eliminated the five-year minimum sentence for possession of crack cocaine and reduced the disparity between how much crack or powdered cocaine a possessor needed to have to incur Federal penalties. Earlier, in 2007, Congress passed the Second Chance Act, to provide grants to local government to help offenders reintegrate into communities upon their release through housing, employment, substance…
