DENVER, CO – Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet today cosponsored the First Step Act, bipartisan legislation with more than 30 Senate cosponsors to reform the American criminal justice system.
“This bill is the result of principled bipartisan compromise—regrettably a rare sight in today’s Senate—that has earned broad support from both the law enforcement community and criminal justice reform advocates,” Bennet said. “These reforms are a first step in a longer effort to reduce mass incarceration and restore faith in our justice system. Leader McConnell should schedule a vote on the Senate floor before the end of the year.
The First Step Act aims to reduce federal recidivism and crime, prepare inmates to successfully reenter society, and enhance prison security and officer safety. It also eases mandatory minimum sentences under federal law and makes retroactive the reforms enacted by the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, reducing the disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences at the federal level.
The bill is supported by the Trump administration, law enforcement groups, 172 former federal prosecutors including a former director of the FBI, the National Governor’s Association, and a broad coalition of progressive, conservative, and faith groups. The bill has also been endorsed by the oft-divergent editorial boards of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, as well as by the editorial boards of USA Today, Bloomberg and the Houston Chronicle.
More information on the legislation is available here: