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Senate Approves Bipartisan Criminal Justice Bill

HeadlineDec 19, 2018

The Senate has approved a bipartisan bill that would roll back sentences for federal prisoners—including mandatory life terms for third-time offenders, as well as mandatory sentences for nonviolent drug users and those convicted of firearm crimes. Senators approved the FIRST STEP Act on a vote of 87 to 12 Tuesday, after it received the backing of groups across the political spectrum, from the conservative Koch brothers to the American Civil Liberties Union. The House is poised to take up a companion bill, which is likely to pass; President Trump has pledged to sign it into law. The FIRST STEP Act also ends sentencing disparities for convictions of crack cocaine versus powder cocaine—a distinction that’s long led to deep racial disparities in prison terms. The bill only affects federal prisoners, who make up less than 10 percent of the more than 2 million U.S. prisoners. The bill is a major priority of senior White House adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose father spent time in a federal prison.

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