WASHINGTON — The Federal Bureau of Prisons issued a policy memorandum to staff detailing improvements to the implementation of the First Step Act of 2018 and the Second Chance Act of 2008 on Tuesday, June 17.
The Second Chance Act of 2008 was created to reduce recidivism, increase public safety, and improve the quality of life for individuals reentering society after incarceration. The policy provides resources for those seeking jobs, housing, substance abuse or mental health treatment, and family support, according to an April 10 news article from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
In 2018, the First Step Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump to reauthorize and expand the Second Chance Act. According to a Bureau of Prisons overview, the First Step Act aimed to improve criminal justice outcomes, reduce the size of the prison population, and maintain public safety.
The act includes a recidivism risk and criminogenic needs assessment system, 54 days of good time credit for every year of an individual’s imposed sentence, a requirement for the bureau to house individuals within 500 miles of their primary residence, correctional reforms, and reductions in some mandatory minimum sentences.
Bureau of Prisons Director William K. Marshall III referred to the policy memorandum as the “dawn of a new era” in which the bureau will “realize the full potential” of the First Step Act and Second Chance Act by eliminating “barriers to maximize the availability of home confinement to those who qualify for community release.”
In the Tuesday press release, the bureau stated the new directive will have “immediate and meaningful benefits” by ensuring four specific criteria are followed by staff implementing the laws.
First, time credits individuals receive under the First Step Act and any Second Chance Act eligibility can now be “cumulative and stackable,” allowing qualified individuals to spend meaningful portions of their sentences in home confinement.
Second, building on a May press release, individuals’ conditional placement dates will now be based on projected credit accrual under the laws and statutory timelines.
Third, instead of prioritizing past employment, placement decisions will now be guided by an individual’s stable housing and community reintegration readiness.
Finally, the directive stated that residential reentry center bed capacity “will not be a barrier to home confinement” for eligible individuals.
The bureau stated these changes will “save millions of taxpayer dollars… reduce strain on prison bedspace and staffing, and eliminate prolonged and unnecessary burdens on inmates and their families.”
Director Marshall said the policy “marks a bold shift from years of inaction toward a policy rooted in public safety, fiscal responsibility, and second chances.”
