The FIRST STEP Act is Just That: a First Step
At Heartland Alliance, we believe that our justice system should value human dignity, rehabilitation, and restorative justice for all. Alongside people with lived experience of justice involvement and a myriad of partners, our teams have advanced sweeping and principled criminal justice reform in Illinois that reflects strong support for reforms across the system.
With the U.S. Senate passage of the FIRST STEP Act last night, it is evident that bipartisan national support for criminal justice reform is strong. While we welcome certain provisions in the bill—including the reduction of mandatory minimum sentencing for certain felony drug convictions, the restriction of juvenile solitary confinement, and the end of shackling of pregnant prisoners—we believe that several elements in the FIRST STEP Act will have widespread negative consequences. Assuming this legislation is enacted, we encourage Congress to be even bolder in future reform efforts to truly reflect the national consensus around reforming the criminal justice system and dismantling its impacts on the lives of individuals and communities—the majority of which are individuals and communities of color.
We share with other organizations significant concerns about key provisions in the bill that are likely to deepen racial inequity within the justice system. Specifically, the law calls for the use of risk assessment tools—which are known to be racially biased—to determine who is eligible for in-prison programming or early release. The law also expands the use of electronic monitoring of people who are found to be eligible for early release. Electronic monitoring expands the reach of the criminal justice system, normalizes surveillance, and makes it difficult if not impossible for people to go about their daily lives. Moreover, people subject to electronic monitoring may be responsible for the cost of their monitoring devices, shifting the cost of incarceration from the government to directly impacted individuals. This would put an additional financial burden on individuals who are likely already struggling to make ends meet while benefitting wealthy private entities. Finally, due to carve outs in the law, many people will simply be excluded from earning time credits to put toward early release. These carve outs are likely to disproportionately impact people of color, further perpetuating inequity in the justice system.
The FIRST STEP Act offers an incremental approach to justice reform, but in order to achieve true reform, we need transformative approaches rooted in human rights principles.
We applaud the bipartisan champions in Congress and the advocacy community who tirelessly fought to improve the FIRST STEP Act, and we recognize the uphill battles that the legislation faced at every turn.
We remain mindful, however, of the great distance left on the path to justice and the realization of human rights for ALL. In partnership with you, our teams will continue to advance bold reforms toward a truly just justice system.
In solidarity,
Heartland Alliance’s Research & Policy Division
