The effort to reform the federal prison system is gaining a lot of attention. President Donald Trump has expressed support for prison reform on multiple occasions, including a mention in his State of the Union address and, most recently, during a meeting with a group of African-American pastors. President Trump has also expressed a willingness to include sentencing reform in the prison reform bill.

Over the past several months, there has a been a campaign against the FIRST STEP Act, H.R. 5682, waged by a handful of reactionaries whose mindset is better suited for the 1980s. It has been suspected, although not confirmed, that the talking points against the bill were coming from the Department of Justice (DOJ). We now know this to be an indisputable fact.

Originally published on Wednesday, May 30, 2018. Last updated on Monday, June 18, 2018.

One of the arguments that those opposed to criminal justice reform often claim is that violent crime is a concern, making it unwise to pass even the most basic of reforms to reduce recidivism. This is hypocritical on its face, simply because reducing recidivism by definition reduces crime rates by lowering the number of re-offenders. Nevertheless, opponents of criminal justice reform are ramping up their rhetoric on crime rates to oppose the FIRST STEP Act, H.R. 5682.

Last week, the House Judiciary Committee approved the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person (FIRST STEP) Act, H.R. 5682, by a 25 to 5 vote. Four Democrats voted against the measure because the bill doesn’t have any sentencing reforms. Only one Republican voted against it. Approval by the committee sets the stage for a floor vote, likely in the coming weeks.

On behalf of FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and encourage him or her to support the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person (FIRST STEP) Act, H.R. 5682, introduced by Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.). The bill would require the implementation of evidence-based recidivism reduction programming in federal prisons and allow eligible offenders to earn time credits to serve part of their sentence in home confinement, halfway houses, or community supervision.