Fellow Illinoisan,

One year ago this month, Congress came together on a bipartisan basis to tackle one of the toughest political issues of our day—criminal justice reform—and pass the landmark First Step Act.

It was the most significant piece of criminal justice reform legislation to successfully make its way through Congress in years.  I am proud to have been a lead author of this legislation.

A primary goal of our criminal justice system should be to rehabilitate and prepare prisoners for successful reentry into their communities.  The First Step Act helps our criminal justice system do just that, giving new life to thousands of incarcerated Americans who were unfairly sentenced.  For many, it represents a second chance they thought they would never have. 

To date, at least 5,100 prisoners have been ordered released from federal prisons under the First Step Act. More than 3,000 of those individuals were released because of the retroactive expansion of “good time” credits.  Another 2,000 individuals were released because of the retroactive application of the Fair Sentencing Act, bipartisan legislation that I authored to reduce unfair sentences for nonviolent crack cocaine offenses.

But there is still work to be done.  The Trump Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has resisted full and proper implementation of the First Step Act, adopting frivolous legal positions in order to aggressively resist retroactive Fair Sentencing Act relief for eligible individuals.  In some cases, DOJ is even working to put those individuals back behind bars.

I am also deeply concerned that DOJ has created a system for implementing First Step Act prison reforms that will result in stunning racial disparities, and improperly deny incarcerated Americans the opportunity to earn early release by successfully completing vocational, educational, and other rehabilitative programs.

We cannot fully implement the First Step Act—and all of the important reforms contained within it—without the full cooperation of the Trump Administration.

I will keep working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure that the First Step Act is fully and properly implemented.  We must keep fighting to ensure that our criminal justice system is working to prepare prisoners for successful reentry into society. Anything less is unacceptable.

Sincerely, 

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)