FIRST STEP Act

Bill: 115-s-2795
Sponsor: Sen. Cornyn, John [R-TX]
Introduced: 2018-05-07 in the Senate
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Advisory bodies
Animal protection and human-animal relationships
Congressional oversight
Correctional facilities and imprisonment
Criminal justice information and records
Criminal procedure and sentencing
Department of Justice
Disaster relief and insurance
District of Columbia
Drug therapy
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Employment and training programs
Executive agency funding and structure
Family relationships
Firearms and explosives
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government studies and investigations
Higher education
Juvenile crime and gang violence
Law enforcement officers
Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
Mental health
Public contracts and procurement
Sex offenses
Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
Tax-exempt organizations
Vocational and technical education
Women's health

Summary:
action_date: 2018-05-07
text: 

Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act or the FIRST STEP Act

 
This bill amends various provisions of law and sets forth new provisions:
 
 
to require the Department of Justice to establish and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to implement a risk and needs assessment system to assess prisoner recidivism risk; guide housing, grouping, and program assignments; and incentivize and reward participation in and completion of recidivism reduction programs and productive activities; 
 
to modify the computation of good time credit; 
 
to allow federal correctional officers to securely store and carry concealed firearms on BOP premises outside the security perimeter of a prison; 
 
to limit the use of restraints on federal prisoners who are pregnant or in postpartum recovery; 
 
to require a prisoner to be placed at a facility not more than 500 driving miles away from the prisoner's primary residence; 
 
to require low-risk prisoners to be placed on home confinement for the maximum amount of time permitted; 
 
to reauthorize through FY2022 and modify eligibility for an elderly offender early release pilot program; 
 
to require the BOP to help prisoners obtain identification documents prior to release, to incorporate de-escalation procedures into training programs, and to make tampons and sanitary napkins available free of charge; 
 
to repeal the National Institute of Corrections; 
 
 to authorize Federal Prison Industries to sell products to additional markets; 
 
to require probation and pretrial services officers to perform court-directed supervision of sex offenders conditionally released from civil commitment; 
 
to require auditors who monitor compliance with national prison rape standards be certified; and 
 
to require the BOP to establish pilot programs on youth mentorship and service to abandoned, rescued, or vulnerable animals. 
 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2018-05-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR 5/9/2018 S2580-2581; text of measure as introduced: CR S2518-2527)
action_date: 2018-05-07
text: Introduced in Senate