Five years on, Congress must build on the First Step Act successes

Five years ago today, one of the most meaningful federal criminal justice reforms in a decade became law. It has been a huge success. Since the First Step Act passed, thousands more people leaving the federal prison system have rebuilt their lives without reoffending — in fact, the federal recidivism rate has dropped by an estimated 37 percent since the law was enacted. For us — a former police chief and a former prosecutor — that’s one of the best holiday gifts we could get. For the new year, we want more of what the First Step Act brings: further reductions in crime and more people staying out of prison.

In her book “Reform Nation: The First Step Act and the Movement to End Mass Incarceration,” sociologist Colleen Eren calls the First Step Act “one of the few major pieces of federal criminal justice reform since the 1970s . . . to gesture at reversing the incarceration frenzy.” Among other things, the law lowered some mandatory minimum sentences and provided more circumstances under which judges can use their discretion to decide the sentence without being bound by a mandatory one. It allowed individuals in certain categories, such as the elderly or seriously ill, to petition directly to a court for compassionate release, thereby bypassing the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). It expanded a BOP pilot program that had provided for early release from prison to home confinement. It expanded employment opportunities and substance abuse treatment in facilities. In order to help individuals leaving prison, the BOP was required to provide them with identification. The law’s prison reforms focused on respecting the humanity of people who are incarcerated, such as prohibiting shackling during pregnancy. The law also required that individuals be placed within 500 miles of their families if possible; previously there was no geographic limit. The law’s success demonstrates that we canreduce crime while also reducing unnecessary arrests, prosecutions and incarceration.

The First Step Act made it into law because of the broad coalition behind it. Republicans, Democrats, advocates, leaders in law enforcement like us, people who have been impacted by the criminal justice system, and many others across the political spectrum pushed hard for the bill, in the press and on the Hill. Together, we said the reforms would reduce recidivism. Congress listened.

Five years later, our predictions have come true. Congress should now prioritize its next steps towards a criminal justice system that reduces crime and improves public safety through sensible, humane approaches to punishment and rehabilitation.

Our lawmakers could start by rejecting Senate Joint Resolution 47, a misguided effort to send individuals who were released to home confinement in the wake of the pandemic back to prison. These individuals have spent years offense-free and have been able to reunite with their families and reintegrate into their communities. Returning them to prison now serves no public safety purpose and will only serve to strain already stretched corrections staff.

Congress can also pass three bills that already have bipartisan support. The First Step Implementation Act would expand the First Step Act’s sentencing reduction provisions and improve reentry outcomes for juveniles. The Federal Prison Oversight Act would create an independent avenue to review complaints about federal prison conditions as well as regular inspections of BOP facilities and reporting to Congress, none of which currently exist. This increased transparency and accountability in federal prison management will help to ensure safe and humane treatment of individuals who are incarcerated. And the Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law (EQUAL) Act would end the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. For decades crack has been penalized much more heavily, resulting in substantial racial inequities in federal drug sentencing. The First Step Act reduced this disparity but did not eliminate it.

We staunchly support these bills and other efforts to break the cycles of crime and recidivism. Our careers in law enforcement have made us painfully aware that extreme criminal enforcement and draconian punishment, far from improving lives and communities, can backfire with devastating results. And many of our peers in corrections agree.

The First Step Act certainly didn’t fix all of the flaws in the criminal justice system. But that’s no excuse for abandoning its achievements in public safety and in the thousands of people coming out of prison, their families, and their communities. Congress must put common-sense criminal justice reform back on the agenda. That’s where it belongs.

Ronal Serpas is the former police superintendent of New Orleans and the former chief of police in Nashville. Rosemary Nidiry is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York. Serpas and Nidiry now serve as executive director and senior counsel, respectively, of Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime & Incarceration.