Over the last four decades, this country’s incarceration rate more than quadrupled, while at the same time, careful empirical studies showed that these dramatic increases failed to reduce recidivism or increase rehabilitation. A national consensus took hold that the costs of increased rates of incarceration are much greater than our lawmakers and courts ever anticipated and that it was time to re-examine criminal justice policies. In jurisdictions that have addressed the need for reform over the last few years, the benefits of that re-examination have been substantial. After years of bipartisan effort to pass federal criminal justice reform, on December 21, 2018, President Trump signed into law the FIRST STEP Act, short for “Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person” Act. The statute is intended to shorten certain federal prison sentences for non-violent offenders by, among other things, shortening mandatory minimum sentences, easing the federal “three strikes” rule, and expanding the drug safety valve to give judges more discretion to deviate from mandatory minimum sentences.

The Federal Criminal Procedure Committee of the American College of Trial Lawyers (“ACTL”) applauds the passage of the FIRST STEP Act, but sees it only as the first of many steps that should be taken to reform our criminal justice system. We urge full consideration of reforms not only at the federal level, but also at the state and local levels of our criminal justice system.

Publish Date / Last Revised

October 29, 2024

Topic

  • Rule of Law
  • Trial Advocacy

Resource Type

  • White Paper

Audience Type

  • Fellows
  • Judges
  • Law Students
  • Lawyers