We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.
OPIOID BILL SIGNED, IMPROVES FIRST STEP CHANCES
President Trump signed H.R. 6, The SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, last week, which will provide addiction treatment programs to combat the opioid crisis. This is good news for several reasons.
First, the bill was a rare bipartisan effort in Congress, and the accolades legislators have gotten for cooperation may whet their appetite for more bipartisan activity. The next best opportunity for legislation supported by both Republicans and Democrats is the FIRST STEP Act, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) has promised to bring to a vote if at least 60 votes are there.
Second, passage of a bill addressing the opioid crisis gives the Senators cover for prison reform. Opponents of reform complain that with the nation’s current drug crisis, Congress needs to toughen laws, not weaken them. Pointing to a separate law addressing the drug crisis lets FIRST STEP supporters argue that FIRST STEP and the SUPPORT Act together are a comprehensive approach that will make the nation safer.
Skopos Labs, which estimates the chances that federal legislation will be enacted, last week increased its odds that FIRST STEP will be enacted to 85%. The highest Skopos Labs estimate prior to last week was 73%.
Nothing else happened in the last week, with midterm elections coming up November 6th. Nevertheless, opinion pieces in the middle-of-the-road publication The Hill, the conservative Washington Times and the liberal Austin Chronicle, all uniformly urged passage of FIRST STEP.
The Hill, Critics are wrong on First Step Act that can fix criminal justice system (Oct. 26, 2018)
The Washington Times, Justice demands passage of First Step bill to rehabilitate lives (Oct. 21, 2018)
Austin Chronicle, The Texas Public Policy Foundation: Not Always Evil! – Conservative think tank aligns with FIRST STEP Act (Oct. 26, 2018)
NPR, Signing Opioid Law, Trump Pledges to End ‘Scourge’ Of Drug Addiction (Oct. 24, 2018)
– Thomas L. Root