From the National Council of Churches (http://www.ncccusa.org):
Senate considering two very different proposals
The Senate is currently considering two legislative proposals that will affect incarcerated persons in different ways. A prison reform only measure, the FIRST STEP Act (S 2795), purports to provide opportunities to incarcerated persons to earn time credits and gain early release. However, this bill makes promises it can’t keep. First, those completing programming are only allowed to be released to transitional housing, not fully released. Second, currently there are huge waiting lists for entry into transitional housing, meaning that any newly eligible persons have no chance of getting out of prison early. The FIRST STEP Act does nothing to reverse mass incarceration.
A more comprehensive approach is taken by the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (SRCA – S 1917). SRCA reduces mandatory minimum sentences and provides reforms that will reduce recidivism. Prison populations would be reduced and the savings then can be used to help relieve over incarceration. SRCA is a good first step towards unraveling the problem of mass incarceration.
Act now at https://actionnetwork.org/letters/support-real-criminal-justice-reform and tell your Senator to support SRCA by becoming a co-sponsor and demanding a vote on the bill on the Senate floor!
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