December 19, 2018
Dear Representatives:
On behalf of more than 3.2 million Americans for Prosperity activists in all 50 states, we urge a YES vote on S. 756, the Senate version of the FIRST STEP Act. This bill will bring needed, overdue reforms to our criminal justice system, has resoundingly passed the Senate, and should be signed into law immediately.
We urge you to vote YES on S. 756, the Senate version of the FIRST STEP Act, and send it to the President’s desk. Americans for Prosperity will include this vote in our congressional scorecard.
For too long, America has excessively punished too many federal inmates and failed to adequately prepare them for re-entry. The failed approach shows: half of released federal prisoners are re-arrested within 8 years. The Senate version of the FIRST STEP Act (FSA) tackles these problems with the smart-on-crime approach we need to keep our communities safer, save money, and help more prisoners reach their full potential.
The FSA will retroactively apply previous drug sentencing reforms to current prisoners and eliminate or reduce some of our most draconian federal mandatory minimums, creating fairer outcomes.
The FSA will improve our prisons by creating an evidence-based risk and needs assessment tool to tailor expanded rehabilitative programs to individual prisoners. The FSA affords low-risk, well-behaved inmates the opportunity to access alternative confinement near the end of their sentences in order to ease their transitions to society.
The FIRST STEP Act’s prison and sentencing reforms have already worked in some of the toughest-on-crime states in the nation, like Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina, reducing both crime and prison populations. That’s why this bill is supported by major law enforcement groups, the president, federal and state policymakers, governors, mayors, and over 80 percent of voters nationwide.
Ensuring prison sentences are proportionate to the offense and that inmates are prepared for release is both the right and the smart thing to do. The FIRST STEP Act is the bold move we need to protect our neighborhoods, save taxpayer dollars, and break down barriers to improve people’s lives. It’s time for the House to act immediately to get this urgent legislation signed into law.
We urge you to vote YES on S. 756, the Senate version of the FIRST STEP Act, and send it to the President’s desk. Americans for Prosperity will include this vote in our congressional scorecard.
Visit our scorecard online at www.afpscorecard.org
Sincerely,
Brent Wm. Gardner
Chief Government Affairs Officer
Americans for Prosperity
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