II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5193 

To enable incarcerated persons to petition a Federal court for a second 

look at sentences longer than 10 years, where the person is not a 

danger to the safety of any person or the community and has shown 

they are ready for reentry, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 6, 2022 

Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To enable incarcerated persons to petition a Federal court 

for a second look at sentences longer than 10 years, 

where the person is not a danger to the safety of any 

person or the community and has shown they are ready 

for reentry, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Second Look Act of 

5 2022’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 5193 IS

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS RELATED TO THE UNITED STATES

3 CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.—Congress finds the fol4 lowing: 

5 (1) Although the United States has less than 5 

6 percent of the world’s population, the United States 

7 holds approximately 19 percent of the world’s incar8 cerated population and has the highest rate of incar9 ceration in the world, with more than 1,700,000 

10 people incarcerated in State and Federal prisons and 

11 local jails. 

12 (2) The prison population of the United States 

13 has increased by more than 270 percent over a 40- 

14 year period preceding the date of enactment of this 

15 Act. 

16 (3) The United States incarcerates citizens of 

17 the United States at 5 to 10 times the rate of other 

18 industrialized nations. 

19 (4) The face of incarceration in the United 

20 States is not exclusively male. Although less than 5 

21 percent of women in the world live in the United 

22 States, the United States houses nearly 30 percent 

23 of the world’s incarcerated women. 

24 (5) The growth of the incarceration of women 

25 in the United States has outpaced that of men by 

26 nearly 2-to-1, growing more than 475 percent beVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Dec 07, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5193.IS S5193

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 5193 IS

1 tween 1980 and 2020. Fifty-eight percent of incar2 cerated women are mothers of minor children and 

3 most are the primary caretakers for their children. 

4 (6) The overall prison population of the United 

5 States peaked in 2009 and declined at an annual 

6 rate of 1 percent during the subsequent decade. At 

7 this pace, it would take until 2078, or 56 years, to 

8 reduce the prison population by 50 percent. 

9 (7) In 2020, the prison population declined by 

10 15 percent in response to safety precautions related 

11 to the COVID–19 pandemic, but some prison popu12 lations have since bounced back up. 

13 (8) Nearly 50 percent of the United States 

14 Federal prison population in 2022 is incarcerated 

15 for a drug trafficking offense. 

16 (b) FINDINGS RELATED TO THE NEED FOR A SEC17 OND LOOK.—Congress finds the following: 

18 (1) A second look at the sentences for incarcer19 ated individuals is needed. 

20 (2) Life sentences of imprisonment and long 

21 sentences without the possibility of review violate 

22 human rights standards. 

23 (3) One out of 7 incarcerated individuals is cur24 rently serving a life sentence or a virtual life sen25 tence of 50 years or longer. More than 25 percent 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 5193 IS

1 of those individuals are sentenced to life without pa2 role. One out of every 15 women in prison, or nearly 

3 7,000 women, is serving a life sentence or virtual life 

4 sentence. 

5 (4) In 2020, 147,920 people were serving a life 

6 sentence or virtual life sentence in the United 

7 States, and 55,945 people were serving a sentence of 

8 life without parole, compared to a total of 63 people 

9 serving a life sentence without the possibility of re10 lease in the United Kingdom. 

11 (5) Mandatory minimum penalties continue to 

12 result in long sentences in the Federal prison sys13 tem, and— 

14 (A) as of 2016— 

15 (i) 55.7 percent of the Federal prison 

16 population had been sentenced under a 

17 mandatory minimum provision; and 

18 (ii) 25 percent of Federal prisoners 

19 serving life or virtual life sentences have 

20 been convicted of nonviolent crimes, includ21 ing 30 percent for a drug crime; and 

22 (B) in 2021, the average sentence length 

23 for individuals who were convicted of an offense 

24 carrying a mandatory minimum penalty was 

25 139 months of imprisonment. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 5193 IS

1 (6) Among those individuals serving life without 

2 parole sentences, 40 percent have been convicted of 

3 a drug related crime. 

4 (7) The United States has much more punitive 

5 sentencing laws than the rest of the world, as— 

6 (A) sentence lengths in most European 

7 countries rarely exceed 20 years; 

8 (B) Norway abolished life sentences in 

9 1981, and under Norwegian law, the maximum 

10 prison term is 21 years; 

11 (C) in Denmark and Sweden, individuals 

12 serving life sentences can be released after 12 

13 years and 18 years of imprisonment, respec14 tively; and 

15 (D) in Latin America, only 6 out of 19 

16 countries maintain statutes that allow life im17 prisonment. 

18 (8) With the abolition of parole under the Sen19 tencing Reform Act of 1984 (Public Law 98–473; 

20 98 Stat. 1987), there are extremely limited options 

21 for review of Federal sentences, which differs greatly 

22 from the rest of the world, as— 

23 (A) Belgium requires a parole review of life 

24 sentences after 10 years; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 5193 IS

1 (B) Germany requires a parole review of 

2 life sentences after 15 years; and 

3 (C) the International Criminal Court re4 quires a parole review of life sentences after 25 

5 years. 

6 (9) An incarcerated individual should not be 

7 precluded from receiving a second look review of 

8 their sentence because of the nature of the crime for 

9 which the individual was convicted, as— 

10 (A) individuals tend to age out of criminal 

11 activity starting around 25 years of age; 

12 (B) released individuals over the age of 50 

13 have a very low recidivism rate; 

14 (C) several studies, State policies and pro15 grams, and the National Institute of Correc16 tions of the Bureau of Prisons consider incar17 cerated individuals aged 50 and above to be el18 derly; 

19 (D) incarcerated people age at an acceler20 ated rate because they are more likely than the 

21 general public to experience stresses including 

22 long histories of alcohol and drug misuse, insuf23 ficient diet, lack of medical care, financial 

24 struggles, and stress of maintaining safety 

25 while behind bars; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 5193 IS

1 (E) the Office of the Inspector General of 

2 the Department of Justice has found that 

3 ‘‘aging inmates commit less misconduct while 

4 incarcerated and have a lower rate of re-arrest 

5 once released’’ and has recommended the early 

6 release of aging inmates to help manage the in7 mate population and reduce costs at the Bureau 

8 of Prisons; 

9 (F) the cost to State taxpayers to incar10 cerate the approximately 250,000 individuals 

11 aged 50 or older behind bars as of the date of 

12 enactment of this Act is approximately 

13 $16,000,000,000 each year; 

14 (G) incarceration of individuals beyond the 

15 age during which the individuals are likely to 

16 commit crime is a drain on taxpayer dollars 

17 that does nothing to increase public safety; 

18 (H) individuals are capable of redemption; 

19 and 

20 (I) in the words of Bryan Stevenson, ‘‘each 

21 of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever 

22 done’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 5193 IS

1 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN TERMS OF IMPRISON2 MENT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter C of chapter 229 of 

4 title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

5 section 3626 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 3627. MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN TERMS OF IMPRIS7 ONMENT. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro9 vision of law, a court may reduce a term of imprisonment 

10 imposed upon a defendant if— 

11 ‘‘(1) the imposed term of imprisonment was 

12 more than 10 years; 

13 ‘‘(2) the defendant has served not less than 10 

14 years in custody for the offense; and 

15 ‘‘(3) the court finds, after considering the fac16 tors set forth in subsection (c), that— 

17 ‘‘(A) the defendant— 

18 ‘‘(i) is not a danger to the safety of 

19 any person or the community; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) demonstrates readiness for re21 entry; and 

22 ‘‘(B) the interests of justice warrant a sen23 tence modification. 

24 ‘‘(b) SUPERVISED RELEASE.— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 5193 IS

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any defendant whose sen2 tence is reduced pursuant to subsection (a), shall be 

3 ordered to serve— 

4 ‘‘(A) the term of supervised release in5 cluded as part of the original sentence imposed 

6 on the defendant; or 

7 ‘‘(B) in the case of a defendant whose 

8 original sentence did not include a term of su9 pervised release, a term of supervised release 

10 not to exceed the authorized terms of super11 vised release described in section 3583. 

12 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS OF SUPERVISED RELEASE.— 

13 The conditions of supervised release and any modi14 fication or revocation of the term of supervised re15 lease shall be in accordance with section 3583. 

16 ‘‘(c) FACTORS AND INFORMATION TO BE CONSID17 ERED IN DETERMINING WHETHER TO MODIFY A TERM

18 OF IMPRISONMENT.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The court, in determining 

20 whether to reduce a term of imprisonment pursuant 

21 to subsection (a)— 

22 ‘‘(A) may consider the factors described in 

23 section 3553(a), including the nature of the of24 fense and the history and characteristics of the 

25 defendant; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 5193 IS

1 ‘‘(B) shall consider— 

2 ‘‘(i) the age of the defendant at the 

3 time of the offense; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the age of the defendant at the 

5 time of the sentence modification petition 

6 and relevant data regarding the decline in 

7 criminality as the age of a defendant in8 creases; 

9 ‘‘(iii) any presentation of argument 

10 and evidence by counsel for the defendant; 

11 ‘‘(iv) a report and recommendation of 

12 the Bureau of Prisons, including informa13 tion on whether the defendant has substan14 tially complied with the rules of each insti15 tution in which the defendant has been 

16 confined and whether the defendant has 

17 completed any educational, vocational, or 

18 other prison program, where available; 

19 ‘‘(v) any report and recommendation 

20 of the United States attorney for any dis21 trict in which an offense for which the de22 fendant is imprisoned was prosecuted; 

23 ‘‘(vi) whether the defendant has dem24 onstrated maturity, rehabilitation, and a 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 5193 IS

1 fitness to reenter society sufficient to jus2 tify a sentence reduction; 

3 ‘‘(vii) any statement, which may be 

4 presented orally or otherwise, by any vic5 tim of an offense for which the defendant 

6 is imprisoned or by a family member of the 

7 victim if the victim is deceased; 

8 ‘‘(viii) any report from a physical, 

9 mental, or psychiatric examination of the 

10 defendant conducted by a licensed health 

11 care professional; 

12 ‘‘(ix) the family and community cir13 cumstances of the defendant, including any 

14 history of abuse, trauma, or involvement in 

15 the child welfare system, and the potential 

16 benefits to children and family members of 

17 reunification with the defendant; 

18 ‘‘(x) the role of the defendant in the 

19 offense and whether, and to what extent, 

20 an adult was involved in the offense if the 

21 defendant was a juvenile at the time of the 

22 offense; 

23 ‘‘(xi) the diminished culpability of ju24 veniles as compared to that of adults, and 

25 the hallmark features of youth, including 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
12 

•S 5193 IS

1 immaturity, impetuosity, and failure to ap2 preciate risks and consequences, if the de3 fendant was a juvenile at the time of the 

4 offense; and 

5 ‘‘(xii) any other information the court 

6 determines relevant to the decision of the 

7 court. 

8 ‘‘(2) REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION.—In the case 

9 of a defendant who is 50 years of age or older on 

10 the date on which the defendant files an application 

11 for a sentence reduction under subsection (a), there 

12 shall be a rebuttable presumption that the defendant 

13 shall be released. 

14 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON APPLICATIONS PURSUANT TO

15 THIS SECTION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) SECOND APPLICATION.—Not earlier than 

17 5 years after the date on which an order denying re18 lease on an initial application under this section be19 comes final, a court shall entertain a second applica20 tion by the same defendant under this section. 

21 ‘‘(2) THIRD APPLICATION.—Not earlier than 2 

22 years after the date on which an order entered by 

23 a court on a second application under paragraph (1) 

24 becomes final, a court shall entertain a third appli25 cation by the same defendant under this section. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
13 

•S 5193 IS

1 ‘‘(3) FINAL APPLICATION.—A court shall enter2 tain a final application if the defendant— 

3 ‘‘(A) is 50 years of age or older; and 

4 ‘‘(B) has exhausted the sentencing modi5 fication process. 

6 ‘‘(e) PROCEDURES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days after the 

8 date on which the 10th year of imprisonment begins 

9 for a defendant sentenced to more than 10 years of 

10 imprisonment for an offense, the Bureau of Prisons 

11 shall provide written notice of this section to— 

12 ‘‘(A) the defendant; and 

13 ‘‘(B) the sentencing court, the United 

14 States attorney, and the Federal Public De15 fender or Executive Director of the Community 

16 Defender Organization for the judicial district 

17 in which the sentence described in this para18 graph was imposed. 

19 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An application for a 

21 sentence reduction under this section shall be 

22 filed in the judicial district in which the sen23 tence was imposed as a motion to reduce the 

24 sentence of the defendant pursuant to this secVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Dec 07, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5193.IS S5193

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
14 

•S 5193 IS

1 tion and may include affidavits or other written 

2 material. 

3 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—A motion to reduce 

4 a sentence under this section shall be filed with 

5 the sentencing court and a copy shall be served 

6 on the United States attorney for the judicial 

7 district in which the sentence was imposed. 

8 ‘‘(3) EXPANDING THE RECORD; HEARING.— 

9 ‘‘(A) EXPANDING THE RECORD.—After the 

10 filing of a motion to reduce a sentence under 

11 this section, the court may direct the parties to 

12 expand the record by submitting additional 

13 written materials relating to the motion. 

14 ‘‘(B) HEARING.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The court shall, 

16 upon request of the defendant or the Gov17 ernment, conduct a hearing on the motion, 

18 at which the defendant and counsel for the 

19 defendant shall be given the opportunity to 

20 be heard. 

21 ‘‘(ii) EVIDENCE.—In a hearing under 

22 this section, the court shall allow parties to 

23 present evidence. 

24 ‘‘(iii) DEFENDANT’S PRESENCE.—At 

25 a hearing under this section, the defendant 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
15 

•S 5193 IS

1 shall be present unless the defendant 

2 waives the right to be present. The re3 quirement under this clause may be satis4 fied by the defendant appearing by video 

5 teleconference. 

6 ‘‘(iv) COUNSEL.—A defendant who is 

7 unable to afford counsel is entitled to have 

8 counsel appointed, at no cost to the de9 fendant, to represent the defendant for the 

10 application and proceedings under this sec11 tion, including any appeal, unless the de12 fendant expressly waives the right to coun13 sel after being fully advised of their rights 

14 by the court. 

15 ‘‘(v) FINDINGS.—The court shall state 

16 in open court, and file in writing, the rea17 sons for granting or denying a motion 

18 under this section. 

19 ‘‘(C) APPEAL.—The Government or the 

20 defendant may file a notice of appeal in the dis21 trict court for review of a final order under this 

22 section. The time limit for filing such appeal 

23 shall be governed by rule 4(a) of the Federal 

24 Rules of Appellate Procedure. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
16 

•S 5193 IS

1 ‘‘(4) CRIME VICTIMS RIGHTS.—Upon receiving 

2 an application under paragraph (2), the United 

3 States attorney shall provide any notifications re4 quired under section 3771. 

5 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

7 the date of enactment of the Second Look Act of 

8 2022, and once every year thereafter, the United 

9 States Sentencing Commission shall submit to the 

10 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 

11 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep12 resentatives a report on requests for sentence reduc13 tions under this section. 

14 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report required to be 

15 published under paragraph (1) shall include, for the 

16 1-year period preceding the report— 

17 ‘‘(A) the number of— 

18 ‘‘(i) incarcerated individuals who were 

19 granted a sentence reduction under this 

20 section; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) incarcerated individuals who 

22 were denied a sentence reduction under 

23 this section; 

24 ‘‘(B) the number of incarcerated individ25 uals released from prison under this section; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
17 

•S 5193 IS

1 ‘‘(C) the demographic characteristics, in2 cluding race and gender, of— 

3 ‘‘(i) the incarcerated individuals who 

4 applied for a sentenced reduction under 

5 this section; 

6 ‘‘(ii) the incarcerated individuals who 

7 were granted a sentence reduction under 

8 this section; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) the incarcerated individuals who 

10 were released under this section; 

11 ‘‘(D) the location, categorized by Federal 

12 circuit and State, of— 

13 ‘‘(i) the incarcerated individuals who 

14 applied for a reduction under this section; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the incarcerated individuals who 

16 were granted a reduction under this sec17 tion; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) the incarcerated individuals who 

19 were released under this section; 

20 ‘‘(E) the average sentence reduction grant21 ed under this section; 

22 ‘‘(F) the number of incarcerated individ23 uals 50 years of age or older who applied for 

24 a sentence reduction under this section; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
18 

•S 5193 IS

1 ‘‘(G) the number of incarcerated individ2 uals who are 50 years of age or older who were 

3 granted a sentence reduction under this section; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(H) the number of incarcerated individ6 uals 50 years of age or older who were released 

7 from prison under this section. 

8 ‘‘(3) ATTORNEY GENERAL COOPERATION.—The 

9 Attorney General shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) assist and provide information to the 

11 United States Sentencing Commission in the 

12 performance of the duties of the Commission 

13 under this subsection; and 

14 ‘‘(B) promptly respond to requests from 

15 the Commission.’’. 

16 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections for 

17 subchapter C of chapter 229 of title 18, United States 

18 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

19 section 3626 the following: 

‘‘3627. Modification of certain terms of imprisonment.’’. 

20 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

21 Section 3582(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amend22 ed— 

23 (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

24 the end; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
19 

•S 5193 IS

1 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at 

2 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(3) the court may reduce a term of imprison5 ment in accordance with section 3627.’’. 

6 (d) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by this 

7 section shall apply to any conviction entered before, on, 

8 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS