The Finish Line
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What to Know: The First Step Act, an important criminal justice reform bill, is on the verge of passage in the U.S. Senate (it has already passed in the House).
“There are no sure bets in this Congress, especially when it comes to the politically fraught issue of criminal justice reform,” NBC News reports. “But a rare coalition of lawmakers, activists, prosecutors and defense attorneys spanning the political spectrum believe they are on the cusp of a vote that would usher in the broadest set of changes to federal criminal statutes in a generation.”
The TPPF Take: Modeled on successful reforms in Texas, the First Step Act will result in huge benefits for taxpayers—and for former prisoners, their families and their communities.
“For years, our prison system grew in spending and declined in results. The notion of redemption was abandoned. Cost-effectiveness was discarded for the sake of punishment,” says TPPF’s Kevin Roberts. “But this bill applies conservative principles to our corrections system. Those principles will transform that system into something better.”
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