The Two First Step Acts

Judges, inmates, and others have asked me about the First Step Act, wondering whether it entitles certain defendants to a reduced sentence or an early release from prison. The confusing thing is that there are two First Step Acts—one federal, and one state. The federal First Step Act was signed into law in late 2018. North Carolina’s First Step Act did not become law. The Federal First Step Act. In 2018, Congress passed a federal law called the First Step Act. Pub. L. No. 115-391 (2018). It made many significant changes related to federal sentencing law and the rules governing the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Among other things, the federal First Step Act: Required the U.S. Department of Justice to develop a risk and needs assessment to be used by the BOP to assess the recidivism risk of all federal prisoners and to place them in appropriate programs and activities based on their “specific criminogenic needs.” Inmates who complete assigned activities (called “recidivism reduction programming” in the law) can earn credits that will allow them the possibility of an earlier release through home confinement or a reentry center. The assessment, called the Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Need (PATTERN), is discussed here. Reduced the penalties for some federal crimes, including reducing the mandatory minimum sentences for some drug traffickers (for example, the life-in-prison minimum for certain repeat offenders is reduced to 25 years, and the 20-year minimum for others is reduced to 15 years). Made some provisions of [...]