Prison and sentencing reform passes the US Senate
Key Points(4)
- <b>The following is a statement from Hilary Shelton, NAACP, Washington DC Bureau.</b> <span style="font-weight: 400;">On December 18, 2018, the U.S.
- Senate passed, by a vote of 87 yeas to 12 nays, its version of the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">First Step Act</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, legislation which begins to reform The United States’ sentencing laws and prison terms.
- </span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Much more work will be needed as we push for transformational change that will end mass incarceration and racial and ethnic minority disparities in prisons throughout America.
- The Senate bill, however, represents a major improvement over the original House-passed version, which consisted only of prison reform; it did not have any of the much-needed sentencing reform provisions which are necessary to make genuine changes to the American criminal justice system.
The following is a statement from Hilary Shelton, NAACP, Washington DC Bureau.
On December 18, 2018, the U.S. Senate passed, by a vote of 87 yeas to 12 nays, its version of the First Step Act, legislation which begins to reform The United States’ sentencing laws and prison terms.
This bipartisan legislation, which has been strongly supported and promoted by the White House, offers some important improvements to the current federal criminal justice system, but it falls short of providing the meaningful change that is required to make the system genuinely fair.
Much more work will be needed as we push for transformational change that will end mass incarceration and racial and ethnic minority disparities in prisons throughout America. The Senate bill, however, represents a major improvement over the original House-passed version, which consisted only of prison reform; it did not have any of the much-needed sentencing reform provisions which are necessary to make genuine changes to the American criminal justice system.
