The Senate on Tuesday approved the most sweeping prison reform bill in years, voting to cut sentences of tens of thousands of inmates while also boosting access to programs designed to keep them from ending up back behind bars again.
The measure cleared on an 87-12 vote and marks a major bipartisan victory for President Trump, who had pressured GOP leaders to pass it this year, before lawmakers closed down Congress.
It still needs approval in the House, where a vote is expected this week.
“This prison and sentencing reform bill is a much-needed first step toward shifting our focus to rehabilitation and reentry of offenders, rather than taking every person who ever made a mistake with drugs, locking them up, and throwing away the key,” said Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who had made a crusade out of reforming sentencing.
Dubbed the First Step Act, the legislation would expand prison programs designed to reduce recidivism and allow some prisoners to earn credits toward early release by taking part in those programs. The bill also reduces some maximum mandatory sentences, such as ending the three-strikes life-in-prison penalty and replacing it with a 25-year maximum. – READ MORE