Criminal Justice Reform Must Start with Sentencing Reform

Grawert explores research and history that inform our position and suggests an alternative "first step" for Congress to take. Specifically, Congress should either pass the FIRST STEP Act together with the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (SRCA), a robust bipartisan bill to reduce some federal drug sentences; or incorporate the SRCA's most important sentencing provisions into a compromise bill. While neither bill would fully end mass incarceration, even at the federal level, prioritizing sentencing reform would begin to significantly decrease the federal prison population.