II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5396 

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 

NOVEMBER 21, 2024 

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 2024’’. 


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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 one of the highest rates 

9 of incarceration in the world, with more than 

10 1,800,000 people incarcerated in State and Federal 

11 prisons and local jails. 

12 (2) The jail and prison population of the United 

13 States has increased by more than 500 percent over 

14 a 40-year period preceding the date of enactment of 

15 this Act. 

16 (3) The United States incarcerates citizens of 

17 the United States at 3 to 8 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 and girls. 

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 585 percent beVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Dec 06, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5396.IS S5396

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1 tween 1980 and 2022. 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 average 

6 annual rate of 2.3 percent during the subsequent 12 

7 years. At this pace, it would take until 2098, or 73 

8 years, to return to the prison population of 1972, 

9 before the era of mass incarceration. 

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

11 15 percent in response to safety precautions related 

12 to the COVID–19 pandemic, but most State prison 

13 populations, as well as the Federal prison popu14 lation, have since bounced back up. 

15 (8) Nearly 45 percent of the United States 

16 Federal prison population in 2024 is incarcerated 

17 for a drug trafficking offense. 

18 (b) FINDINGS RELATED TO THE NEED FOR A SEC19 OND LOOK.—Congress finds the following: 

20 (1) A second look at the sentences for incarcer21 ated individuals is needed. 

22 (2) Life sentences of imprisonment and long 

23 sentences without the possibility of review violate 

24 human rights standards. 


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1 (3) One out of 7 incarcerated individuals is cur2 rently serving a life sentence or a virtual life sen3 tence of 50 years or longer. More than 25 percent 

4 of those individuals are sentenced to life without pa5 role. One out of every 15 women in prison, or nearly 

6 7,000 women, is serving a life sentence or virtual life 

7 sentence. 

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

9 sentence or virtual life sentence in the United 

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

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

12 serving a life sentence without the possibility of re13 lease in the United Kingdom. 

14 (5) Mandatory minimum penalties continue to 

15 result in long sentences in the Federal prison sys16 tem, and— 

17 (A) as of 2016, 56 percent of the Federal 

18 prison population had been sentenced under a 

19 mandatory minimum provision; 

20 (B) during fiscal years 2016 through 

21 2021, nearly 25 percent of Federal prisoners 

22 sentenced to life or virtual life sentences were 

23 convicted of nonviolent crimes and 23 percent 

24 were convicted of drug trafficking offenses; and 


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1 (C) in 2023, the average sentence length 

2 for individuals who were subject to a mandatory 

3 minimum penalty was 12.5 years of imprison4 ment. 

5 (6) Among those individuals serving life sen6 tences for drug-related convictions, 38 percent are in 

7 the Federal system. 

8 (7) The United States has much more punitive 

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

10 (A) sentence lengths in most European 

11 countries rarely exceed 20 years; 

12 (B) Norway abolished life sentences in 

13 1981, and under Norwegian law, the maximum 

14 prison term is 21 years; 

15 (C) in Denmark and Sweden, individuals 

16 serving life sentences can be released after 12 

17 years and 18 years of imprisonment, respec18 tively; and 

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

20 countries maintain statutes that allow life im21 prisonment. 

22 (8) With the abolition of parole under the Sen23 tencing Reform Act of 1984 (Public Law 98–473; 

24 98 Stat. 1987), there are extremely limited options 


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1 for review of Federal sentences, which differs greatly 

2 from the rest of the world, as— 

3 (A) Belgium requires a parole review of life 

4 sentences after 10 years; 

5 (B) Germany requires a parole review of 

6 life sentences after 15 years; and 

7 (C) the International Criminal Court re8 quires a parole review of life sentences after 25 

9 years. 

10 (9) An incarcerated individual should not be 

11 precluded from receiving a second look review of 

12 their sentence because of the nature of the crime for 

13 which the individual was convicted, as— 

14 (A) individuals tend to age out of criminal 

15 activity starting around 25 years of age; 

16 (B) released individuals over the age of 50 

17 have a very low recidivism rate; 

18 (C) several studies, State policies and pro19 grams, and the National Institute of Correc20 tions of the Bureau of Prisons consider incar21 cerated individuals aged 50 and above to be el22 derly; 

23 (D) incarcerated people age at an acceler24 ated rate because they are more likely than the 

25 general public to experience stresses including 


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1 long histories of alcohol and drug misuse, insuf2 ficient diet, lack of medical care, financial 

3 struggles, and stress of maintaining safety 

4 while behind bars; 

5 (E) the Office of the Inspector General of 

6 the Department of Justice has found that 

7 ‘‘aging inmates commit less misconduct while 

8 incarcerated and have a lower rate of re-arrest 

9 once released’’ and has recommended the early 

10 release of aging inmates to help manage the in11 mate population and reduce costs at the Bureau 

12 of Prisons; 

13 (F) the cost to State taxpayers to incar14 cerate the approximately 250,000 individuals 

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

16 enactment of this Act is approximately 

17 $16,000,000,000 each year; 

18 (G) incarceration of individuals beyond the 

19 age during which the individuals are likely to 

20 commit crime is a drain on taxpayer dollars 

21 that does nothing to increase public safety; 

22 (H) the American Law Institute, the 

23 American Bar Association, the Task Force on 

24 Long Sentences of the Council on Criminal Jus25 tice, and the National Academy of Sciences recVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Dec 06, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5396.IS S5396

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1 ommend the enactment of resentencing oppor2 tunities for individuals serving long sentences; 

3 (I) individuals are capable of redemption; 

4 and 

5 (J) in the words of Bryan Stevenson, 

6 ‘‘each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve 

7 ever done’’. 

8 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN TERMS OF IMPRISON9 MENT. 

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

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

12 section 3626 the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 3627. MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN TERMS OF IMPRIS14 ONMENT. 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro16 vision of law, a court may reduce a term of imprisonment 

17 imposed upon a defendant if— 

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

19 more than 10 years; 

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

21 years in custody for the offense; and 

22 ‘‘(3) the court finds, after considering the fac23 tors set forth in subsection (c), that— 

24 ‘‘(A) the defendant— 


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

2 any person or the community; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) demonstrates readiness for re4 entry; and 

5 ‘‘(B) the interests of justice warrant a sen6 tence modification. 

7 ‘‘(b) SUPERVISED RELEASE.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any defendant whose sen9 tence is reduced pursuant to subsection (a), shall be 

10 ordered to serve— 

11 ‘‘(A) the term of supervised release in12 cluded as part of the original sentence imposed 

13 on the defendant; or 

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

15 original sentence did not include a term of su16 pervised release, a term of supervised release 

17 not to exceed the authorized terms of super18 vised release described in section 3583. 

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

20 The conditions of supervised release and any modi21 fication or revocation of the term of supervised re22 lease shall be in accordance with section 3583. 

23 ‘‘(c) FACTORS AND INFORMATION TO BE CONSID24 ERED IN DETERMINING WHETHER TO MODIFY A TERM

25 OF IMPRISONMENT.— 


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

2 whether to reduce a term of imprisonment pursuant 

3 to subsection (a)— 

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

5 section 3553(a), including the nature of the of6 fense and the history and characteristics of the 

7 defendant; and 

8 ‘‘(B) shall consider— 

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

10 time of the offense; 

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

12 time of the sentence modification petition 

13 and relevant data regarding the decline in 

14 criminality as the age of a defendant in15 creases; 

16 ‘‘(iii) any presentation of argument 

17 and evidence by counsel for the defendant; 

18 ‘‘(iv) a report and recommendation of 

19 the Bureau of Prisons, including informa20 tion on whether the defendant has substan21 tially complied with the rules of each insti22 tution in which the defendant has been 

23 confined and whether the defendant has 

24 completed any educational, vocational, or 

25 other prison program, where available; 


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1 ‘‘(v) any report and recommendation 

2 of the United States attorney for any dis3 trict in which an offense for which the de4 fendant is imprisoned was prosecuted; 

5 ‘‘(vi) whether the defendant has dem6 onstrated maturity, rehabilitation, and a 

7 fitness to reenter society sufficient to jus8 tify a sentence reduction; 

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

10 presented orally or otherwise, by any vic11 tim of an offense for which the defendant 

12 is imprisoned or by a family member of the 

13 victim if the victim is deceased; 

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

15 mental, or psychiatric examination of the 

16 defendant conducted by a licensed health 

17 care professional; 

18 ‘‘(ix) the family and community cir19 cumstances of the defendant, including any 

20 history of abuse, trauma, or involvement in 

21 the child welfare system, and the potential 

22 benefits to children and family members of 

23 reunification with the defendant; 

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

25 offense and whether, and to what extent, 


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1 an adult was involved in the offense if the 

2 defendant was a juvenile at the time of the 

3 offense; 

4 ‘‘(xi) the diminished culpability of ju5 veniles as compared to that of adults, and 

6 the hallmark features of youth, including 

7 immaturity, impetuosity, and failure to ap8 preciate risks and consequences, if the de9 fendant was a juvenile at the time of the 

10 offense; and 

11 ‘‘(xii) any other information the court 

12 determines relevant to the decision of the 

13 court. 

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

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

16 the date on which the defendant files an application 

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

18 shall be a rebuttable presumption that the defendant 

19 shall be released. 

20 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON APPLICATIONS PURSUANT TO

21 THIS SECTION.— 

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

23 5 years after the date on which an order denying re24 lease on an initial application under this section beVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Dec 06, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5396.IS S5396

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1 comes final, a court shall entertain a second applica2 tion by the same defendant under this section. 

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

4 years after the date on which an order entered by 

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

6 becomes final, a court shall entertain a third appli7 cation by the same defendant under this section. 

8 ‘‘(3) FINAL APPLICATION.—A court shall enter9 tain a final application if the defendant— 

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

11 ‘‘(B) has exhausted the sentencing modi12 fication process. 

13 ‘‘(e) PROCEDURES.— 

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

15 date on which the 10th year of imprisonment begins 

16 for a defendant sentenced to more than 10 years of 

17 imprisonment for an offense, the Bureau of Prisons 

18 shall provide written notice of this section to— 

19 ‘‘(A) the defendant; and 

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

21 States attorney, and the Federal Public De22 fender or Executive Director of the Community 

23 Defender Organization for the judicial district 

24 in which the sentence described in this para25 graph was imposed. 


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1 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.— 

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

3 sentence reduction under this section shall be 

4 filed in the judicial district in which the sen5 tence was imposed as a motion to reduce the 

6 sentence of the defendant pursuant to this sec7 tion and may include affidavits or other written 

8 material. 

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

10 a sentence under this section shall be filed with 

11 the sentencing court and a copy shall be served 

12 on the United States attorney for the judicial 

13 district in which the sentence was imposed. 

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

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

16 filing of a motion to reduce a sentence under 

17 this section, the court may direct the parties to 

18 expand the record by submitting additional 

19 written materials relating to the motion. 

20 ‘‘(B) HEARING.— 

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

22 upon request of the defendant or the Gov23 ernment, conduct a hearing on the motion, 

24 at which the defendant and counsel for the 


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1 defendant shall be given the opportunity to 

2 be heard. 

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

4 this section, the court shall allow parties to 

5 present evidence. 

6 ‘‘(iii) DEFENDANT’S PRESENCE.—At 

7 a hearing under this section, the defendant 

8 shall be present unless the defendant 

9 waives the right to be present. The re10 quirement under this clause may be satis11 fied by the defendant appearing by video 

12 teleconference. 

13 ‘‘(iv) COUNSEL.—A defendant who is 

14 unable to afford counsel is entitled to have 

15 counsel appointed, at no cost to the de16 fendant, to represent the defendant for the 

17 application and proceedings under this sec18 tion, including any appeal, unless the de19 fendant expressly waives the right to coun20 sel after being fully advised of their rights 

21 by the court. 

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

23 in open court, and file in writing, the rea24 sons for granting or denying a motion 

25 under this section. 


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

2 defendant may file a notice of appeal in the dis3 trict court for review of a final order under this 

4 section. The time limit for filing such appeal 

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

6 Rules of Appellate Procedure. 

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

8 an application under paragraph (2), the United 

9 States attorney shall provide any notifications re10 quired under section 3771. 

11 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

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

13 the date of enactment of the Second Look Act of 

14 2024, and once every year thereafter, the United 

15 States Sentencing Commission shall submit to the 

16 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 

17 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep18 resentatives a report on requests for sentence reduc19 tions under this section. 

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

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

22 1-year period preceding the report— 

23 ‘‘(A) the number of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) incarcerated individuals who were 

2 granted a sentence reduction under this 

3 section; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) incarcerated individuals who 

5 were denied a sentence reduction under 

6 this section; 

7 ‘‘(B) the number of incarcerated individ8 uals released from prison under this section; 

9 ‘‘(C) the demographic characteristics, in10 cluding race and gender, of— 

11 ‘‘(i) the incarcerated individuals who 

12 applied for a sentenced reduction under 

13 this section; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the incarcerated individuals who 

15 were granted a sentence reduction under 

16 this section; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) the incarcerated individuals who 

18 were released under this section; 

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

20 circuit and State, of— 

21 ‘‘(i) the incarcerated individuals who 

22 applied for a reduction under this section; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the incarcerated individuals who 

24 were granted a reduction under this sec25 tion; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the incarcerated individuals who 

2 were released under this section; 

3 ‘‘(E) the average sentence reduction grant4 ed under this section; 

5 ‘‘(F) the number of incarcerated individ6 uals 50 years of age or older who applied for 

7 a sentence reduction under this section; 

8 ‘‘(G) the number of incarcerated individ9 uals who are 50 years of age or older who were 

10 granted a sentence reduction under this section; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(H) the number of incarcerated individ13 uals 50 years of age or older who were released 

14 from prison under this section. 

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

16 Attorney General shall— 

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

18 United States Sentencing Commission in the 

19 performance of the duties of the Commission 

20 under this subsection; and 

21 ‘‘(B) promptly respond to requests from 

22 the Commission.’’. 

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

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


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

2 section 3626 the following: 

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

3 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

4 Section 3582(c) of title 18, United States Code, is amend5 ed— 

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

7 the end; 

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

9 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

11 ‘‘(3) the court may reduce a term of imprison12 ment in accordance with section 3627.’’. 

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

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

15 or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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