S-3649 : Still Just a Bill

First Step Act

This bill amends various provisions of law and sets forth new provisions:

  • to require the Department of Justice to establish and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to implement a risk and needs assessment system;
  • to modify the computation of good time credit;
  • to allow federal correctional officers to securely store and carry concealed firearms on BOP premises outside the security perimeter of a prison;
  • to limit the use of restraints on federal prisoners who are pregnant or in postpartum recovery;
  • to reduce mandatory minimum prison terms for certain nonviolent repeat drug offenses;
  • to broaden the existing safety valve to permit a sentence below the mandatory minimum for certain nonviolent, cooperative drug offenders with a limited criminal history;
  • to make the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 retroactive;
  • to require prisoners to be placed within 500 miles of their primary residence;
  • to require low-risk prisoners to be placed on home confinement for the maximum amount of time permitted;
  • to reauthorize through FY2022 and modify eligibility for an elderly offender early release pilot program;
  • to require the BOP to help prisoners obtain identification documents prior to release, to incorporate de-escalation procedures into training programs, and to make tampons and sanitary napkins available free of charge;
  • to authorize Federal Prison Industries to sell products to additional markets;
  • to require probation and pretrial services officers to perform court-directed supervision of sex offenders conditionally released from civil commitment;
  • to require the BOP to establish pilot programs on youth mentorship and service to abandoned, rescued, or vulnerable animals; and
  • to limit juvenile solitary confinement.

Action Timeline

Action DateTypeTextSource
2018-11-26CalendarsRead the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 674.Senate
2018-11-15CalendarsIntroduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.Senate
2018-11-15IntroReferralIntroduced in SenateLibrary of Congress

Policy Area :

Crime and Law Enforcement
See Subjects
  • Accounting and auditing
  • Advisory bodies
  • Animal protection and human-animal relationships
  • Congressional oversight
  • Correctional facilities and imprisonment
  • Criminal justice information and records
  • Criminal procedure and sentencing
  • Detention of persons
  • Disaster relief and insurance
  • Drug therapy
  • Drug trafficking and controlled substances
  • Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
  • Employment and training programs
  • Executive agency funding and structure
  • Family relationships
  • Firearms and explosives
  • Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
  • Government studies and investigations
  • Higher education
  • Judicial procedure and administration
  • Juvenile crime and gang violence
  • Law enforcement administration and funding
  • Law enforcement officers
  • Long-term, rehabilitative, and terminal care
  • Mental health
  • Public contracts and procurement
  • Sex offenses
  • Social work, volunteer service, charitable organizations
  • Tax-exempt organizations
  • Violent crime
  • Vocational and technical education
  • Women's health
  • District of Columbia
  • Department of Justice

Related Bills

See Related Bills