First Step Act: Overview and Implementation - Revision history

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			{{MetaDescription\|Learn about First Step Act - Overview and Implementation's federal case, conviction, and prison experience on Prisonpedia.}}
	The '''First Step Act of 2018''' is a United States federal law on sentencing and prison reform for people in federal custody.<ref>Nathan James, "The First Step Act of 2018: An Overview," Congressional Research Service, R45558, March 4, 2019, available via Congress.gov, https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R45558.</ref> The law reduces some federal mandatory minimum penalties, expands good conduct time, creates earned time credits for participation in programs, and adds new rules for confinement and reentry.<ref name="bop-overview">Federal Bureau of Prisons, "An Overview of the First Step Act," accessed 2025, https://www.bop.gov/inmates/fsa/overview.jsp.</ref>		The '''First Step Act of 2018''' is a United States federal law on sentencing and prison reform for people in federal custody.<ref>Nathan James, "The First Step Act of 2018: An Overview," Congressional Research Service, R45558, March 4, 2019, available via Congress.gov, https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R45558.</ref> The law reduces some federal mandatory minimum penalties, expands good conduct time, creates earned time credits for participation in programs, and adds new rules for confinement and reentry.<ref name="bop-overview">Federal Bureau of Prisons, "An Overview of the First Step Act," accessed 2025, https://www.bop.gov/inmates/fsa/overview.jsp.</ref>

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	~~[[Category:Prison Programming]]~~{{~~MetaDescription~~\|Complete guide to the First Step Act. Learn about earned time credits, compassionate release, and sentence reduction programs.}}		\|title_mode=append
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	[[Category:Prison Programming]]		[[Category:Prison Programming]]{{MetaDescription\|Complete guide to the First Step Act. Learn about earned time credits, compassionate release, and sentence reduction programs.}}

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			"@context": "https://schema.org",
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			{
			"@type": "Question",
			"name": "What is the First Step Act?",
			"acceptedAnswer": {
			"@type": "Answer",
			"text": "The First Step Act of 2018 is a United States federal law on sentencing and prison reform for people in federal custody. Signed by President Donald Trump on December 21, 2018, the law reduces some federal mandatory minimum penalties, expands good conduct time, creates earned time credits for participation in programs, and adds new rules for confinement and reentry. The act applies only to people convicted of federal offenses and held in the federal prison system."
			}
			},
			{
			"@type": "Question",
			"name": "How much time can the First Step Act take off a sentence?",
			"acceptedAnswer": {
			"@type": "Answer",
			"text": "The First Step Act can reduce time in secure custody by up to one year or more through combined benefits. Expanded good conduct time allows up to 54 days per year of the sentence imposed. Earned time credits provide 10 to 15 days of credit for every 30 days of successful program participation, which can result in earlier transfer to halfway houses, home confinement, or supervised release. For people with long federal sentences and consistent program participation, the combined credits reduce prison time by months or more than a year."
			}
			},
			{
			"@type": "Question",
			"name": "Who is eligible for First Step Act benefits?",
			"acceptedAnswer": {
			"@type": "Answer",
			"text": "The First Step Act applies to people convicted of federal offenses held in the federal prison system, provided they have not been convicted of disqualifying offenses. Disqualifying offenses generally include violent crimes, terrorism-related offenses, sex offenses, human trafficking, and certain high-level drug offenses. Analyses estimate that more than half of the federal prison population falls into categories excluded from time credits because of offense-based restrictions and other limits."
			}
			},
			{
			"@type": "Question",
			"name": "What is PATTERN in the First Step Act?",
			"acceptedAnswer": {
			"@type": "Answer",
			"text": "PATTERN (Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs) is the Department of Justice's formal risk and needs assessment system required by the First Step Act. Released in July 2019, PATTERN assesses each federal prisoner's recidivism risk and identifies programming needs. The current version, PATTERN 1.3, was implemented in May 2022 following revisions based on validation studies and public comment. Eligibility for earned time credits depends on PATTERN risk classifications."
			}
			},
			{
			"@type": "Question",
			"name": "How does the First Step Act change good conduct time?",
			"acceptedAnswer": {
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			"text": "The First Step Act amends 18 U.S.C. § 3624 so that eligible federal prisoners receive up to 54 days of good conduct time for each year of the sentence imposed, instead of each year served. BOP applied the new calculation in 2019 and adjusted projected release dates, which reduced sentences for tens of thousands of people by weeks or months. This is separate from earned time credits, which require active program participation."
			}
			},
			{
			"@type": "Question",
			"name": "How does the First Step Act change compassionate release?",
			"acceptedAnswer": {
			"@type": "Answer",
			"text": "Before 2018, the Bureau of Prisons controlled most motions for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). The First Step Act allows prisoners to file motions directly in federal court after they finish internal requests. During the first year after enactment, courts granted 145 compassionate release motions compared with 24 in 2018. Most successful motions now come from people who file on their own rather than from BOP requests, and judges, not BOP alone, now make most final decisions."
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			},
			{
			"@type": "Question",
			"name": "What sentencing reforms did the First Step Act include?",
			"acceptedAnswer": {
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			"text": "The First Step Act narrows enhanced drug penalties under 21 U.S.C. § 851, broadens the safety valve that lets judges sentence some low-level drug defendants below mandatory minimums, and ends prior stacking of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) firearm counts for many cases. The act also makes the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 retroactive, so people with older crack cocaine convictions can seek resentencing under newer, higher thresholds. In the first year, 2,387 sentence reductions averaged 71 months under the retroactive crack provision alone."
			}
			},
			{
			"@type": "Question",
			"name": "What are the problems with First Step Act implementation?",
			"acceptedAnswer": {
			"@type": "Answer",
			"text": "Implementation has been slower than expected with criticism from courts, advocates, and Congress. The Bureau of Prisons did not receive final regulations on time credit calculation until January 2022, more than three years after the law passed. The Government Accountability Office reported in 2023 that BOP lacked complete and accurate data on assessments and program participation. Advocacy organizations have filed lawsuits alleging miscalculation of credits, and limited halfway house capacity has delayed transfers for eligible prisoners."
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			"@type": "Question",
			"name": "What conditions does the First Step Act change in federal prisons?",
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			"text": "The First Step Act directs the Bureau of Prisons to try to place people within 500 driving miles of a primary residence when practicable, restricts restraints for pregnant prisoners, requires free access to basic menstrual products, requires new staff training on de-escalation and mental health, and limits solitary confinement for juveniles in federal custody. These measures shape daily life in federal facilities even for people whose sentence length does not change."
			}
			},
			{
			"@type": "Question",
			"name": "How many people have benefited from the First Step Act?",
			"acceptedAnswer": {
			"@type": "Answer",
			"text": "Thousands of prisoners have received earlier transfer to community settings after earned time credits were applied. By the mid-2020s, more than 4,000 people received sentence reductions under the retroactive crack cocaine provision alone, separate from new cases sentenced under updated rules. The U.S. Sentencing Commission reports that in 2023, 17,465 individuals were released from BOP custody after earning and applying First Step Act time credits, averaging 10.3 months of credits per person."
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	The '''First Step Act of 2018''' is a United States federal law on sentencing and prison reform for people in federal custody.<ref>Nathan James, "The First Step Act of 2018: An Overview," Congressional Research Service, R45558, March 4, 2019, available via Congress.gov, https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R45558.</ref> The law reduces some federal mandatory minimum penalties, expands good conduct time, creates earned time credits for participation in programs, and adds new rules for confinement and reentry.<ref name="bop-overview">Federal Bureau of Prisons, "An Overview of the First Step Act," accessed 2025, https://www.bop.gov/inmates/fsa/overview.jsp.</ref>		The '''First Step Act of 2018''' is a United States federal law on sentencing and prison reform for people in federal custody.<ref>Nathan James, "The First Step Act of 2018: An Overview," Congressional Research Service, R45558, March 4, 2019, available via Congress.gov, https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R45558.</ref> The law reduces some federal mandatory minimum penalties, expands good conduct time, creates earned time credits for participation in programs, and adds new rules for confinement and reentry.<ref name="bop-overview">Federal Bureau of Prisons, "An Overview of the First Step Act," accessed 2025, https://www.bop.gov/inmates/fsa/overview.jsp.</ref>

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	The bill that became the First Step Act began as S. 756 in the 115th Congress. After negotiations on sentencing provisions, the Senate passed a revised version in December 2018, followed by passage in the House. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law on December 21, 2018, as Public Law 115-391.<ref name="public-law">U.S. Congress, First Step Act of 2018, Pub. L. 115-391, December 21, 2018, 132 Stat. 5194, https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/756.</ref>		The bill that became the First Step Act began as S. 756 in the 115th Congress. After negotiations on sentencing provisions, the Senate passed a revised version in December 2018, followed by passage in the House. President Donald Trump signed the bill into law on December 21, 2018, as Public Law 115-391.<ref name="public-law">U.S. Congress, First Step Act of 2018, Pub. L. 115-391, December 21, 2018, 132 Stat. 5194, https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/756.</ref>

	The law includes three main areas. One part directs the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons to create and use a formal risk and needs assessment system for all federal prisoners, with linked programs to reduce recidivism risk. Another part changes several federal sentencing rules, including drug mandatory minimums, the "safety valve" for some low-level drug cases, and penalties for repeat firearm offenses under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). A third part reauthorizes and expands the Second Chance Act, which funds state and local reentry programs.		The law includes three main areas. One part directs the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons to create and use a formal risk and needs assessment system for all federal prisoners, with linked programs to reduce recidivism risk. Another part changes several federal sentencing rules, including drug mandatory minimums, the "safety valve" for some low-level drug cases, and penalties for repeat firearm offenses under 18 U.S.C. § 924(c). A third part reauthorizes and expands the [[Second Chance Act Overview\|Second Chance Act]], which funds state and local reentry programs.

	Congress set clear timelines for implementation. The Attorney General had 210 days to develop the risk and needs assessment system. The Bureau of Prisons then had two years to assess all prisoners under that system, expand approved programming, and begin to award and apply earned time credits for program participation. The Department of Justice released the core tool, known as the Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs (PATTERN), in July 2019 and later updates have revised risk factors and validation data.<ref name="doj-annual-report">U.S. Department of Justice, "The First Step Act of 2018: Risk and Needs Assessment System," July 2019, and updates, cited in U.S. Department of Justice, "First Step Act Section 3634 Annual Report," April 2022, https://www.ojp.gov/first-step-act-annual-report-april-2022.</ref>		Congress set clear timelines for implementation. The Attorney General had 210 days to develop the risk and needs assessment system. The Bureau of Prisons then had two years to assess all prisoners under that system, expand approved programming, and begin to award and apply earned time credits for program participation. The Department of Justice released the core tool, known as the Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs (PATTERN), in July 2019 and later updates have revised risk factors and validation data.<ref name="doj-annual-report">U.S. Department of Justice, "The First Step Act of 2018: Risk and Needs Assessment System," July 2019, and updates, cited in U.S. Department of Justice, "First Step Act Section 3634 Annual Report," April 2022, https://www.ojp.gov/first-step-act-annual-report-april-2022.</ref>
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	For people in federal custody, the First Step Act affects both the length of custody and the conditions of confinement. Key areas include good conduct time, earned time credits, sentencing relief, compassionate release, and new rules for placement and conditions.		For people in federal custody, the First Step Act affects both the length of custody and the conditions of confinement. Key areas include good conduct time, earned time credits, sentencing relief, compassionate release, and new rules for placement and conditions.

	On good conduct time, the law amends 18 U.S.C. § 3624 so that eligible federal prisoners receive up to 54 days of good conduct time for each year of the sentence imposed, instead of each year served.<ref name="bop-overview" /> BOP applied the new calculation in 2019 and adjusted projected release dates, which reduced sentences for tens of thousands of people by weeks or months.<ref name="famm-five-years">Families Against Mandatory Minimums, "The First Step Act at Five: Successes and Challenges," July 2023, https://famm.org/wp-content/uploads/FSAA5-Report.pdf.</ref>		On good conduct time, the law amends 18 U.S.C. § 3624 so that eligible federal prisoners receive up to 54 days of [[Federal Good Time Credit Policies\|good conduct time]] for each year of the sentence imposed, instead of each year served.<ref name="bop-overview" /> BOP applied the new calculation in 2019 and adjusted projected release dates, which reduced sentences for tens of thousands of people by weeks or months.<ref name="famm-five-years">Families Against Mandatory Minimums, "The First Step Act at Five: Successes and Challenges," July 2023, https://famm.org/wp-content/uploads/FSAA5-Report.pdf.</ref>

	Separate from good conduct time, the act creates earned time credits. Eligible prisoners who complete "evidence-based recidivism reduction programs" or "productive activities" earn credits that move release dates into earlier prerelease custody such as halfway houses or home confinement, and in some situations into earlier transfer to supervised release. Federal regulations award 10 days of credit for every 30 days of successful participation in qualifying programs, with 5 additional days for people whose risk remains low or who show risk reduction over time.<ref name="brennan-center-reforms">Ames C. Grawert and Patricia L. Richman, "The First Step Act's Prison Reforms: Uneven Implementation and the Path Forward," Brennan Center for Justice, September 23, 2022, p. 2, https://www.brennancenter.org/media/10073/download.</ref> The Bureau of Prisons has reported that thousands of prisoners have received earlier transfer to community settings after earned time credits were applied.<ref name="gao-2023">U.S. Government Accountability Office, "Federal Prisons: Bureau of Prisons Should Improve Efforts to Implement Its Risk and Needs Assessment System," GAO-23-105139, March 20, 2023, p. 43, https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-105139.</ref><ref>U.S. Sentencing Commission, "First Step Act Earned Time Credits," data briefing, December 11, 2024, https://www.ussc.gov/education/first-step-act-earned-time-credits.</ref>		Separate from good conduct time, the act creates [[Earned Time Credits Under the First Step Act\|earned time credits]]. Eligible prisoners who complete "evidence-based recidivism reduction programs" or "productive activities" earn credits that move release dates into earlier prerelease custody such as halfway houses or home confinement, and in some situations into earlier transfer to supervised release. Federal regulations award 10 days of credit for every 30 days of successful participation in qualifying programs, with 5 additional days for people whose risk remains low or who show risk reduction over time.<ref name="brennan-center-reforms">Ames C. Grawert and Patricia L. Richman, "The First Step Act's Prison Reforms: Uneven Implementation and the Path Forward," Brennan Center for Justice, September 23, 2022, p. 2, https://www.brennancenter.org/media/10073/download.</ref> The Bureau of Prisons has reported that thousands of prisoners have received earlier transfer to community settings after earned time credits were applied.<ref name="gao-2023">U.S. Government Accountability Office, "Federal Prisons: Bureau of Prisons Should Improve Efforts to Implement Its Risk and Needs Assessment System," GAO-23-105139, March 20, 2023, p. 43, https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-105139.</ref><ref>U.S. Sentencing Commission, "First Step Act Earned Time Credits," data briefing, December 11, 2024, https://www.ussc.gov/education/first-step-act-earned-time-credits.</ref>

	Eligibility limits narrow access to these credits. People convicted of certain offenses, including many violent crimes, some terrorism-related crimes, and some sex offenses, do not qualify for earned time credits, although other incentives such as additional telephone or visiting time still apply. Analyses by groups such as The Sentencing Project and the Brennan Center estimate that more than half of the federal prison population falls into categories excluded from time credits because of offense-based restrictions and other limits.<ref name="sentencing-project">The Sentencing Project, "The First Step Act: Ending Mass Incarceration in Federal Prisons," August 22, 2023, https://www.sentencingproject.org/app/uploads/2023/08/The-First-Step-Act-Ending-Mass-Incarceration-in-Federal-Prisons.pdf.</ref><ref name="brennan-center-reforms" />		Eligibility limits narrow access to these credits. People convicted of certain offenses, including many violent crimes, some terrorism-related crimes, and some sex offenses, do not qualify for earned time credits, although other incentives such as additional telephone or visiting time still apply. Analyses by groups such as The Sentencing Project and the Brennan Center estimate that more than half of the federal prison population falls into categories excluded from time credits because of offense-based restrictions and other limits.<ref name="sentencing-project">The Sentencing Project, "The First Step Act: Ending Mass Incarceration in Federal Prisons," August 22, 2023, https://www.sentencingproject.org/app/uploads/2023/08/The-First-Step-Act-Ending-Mass-Incarceration-in-Federal-Prisons.pdf.</ref><ref name="brennan-center-reforms" />
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	In the first year after enactment, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reported 2,387 sentence reductions under the retroactive crack provision alone, with average reductions of 71 months, from 258 months to 187 months. Later summaries report that by the mid-2020s more than 4,000 people had received sentence reductions under this part of the law, separate from new cases sentenced under the updated rules.<ref name="brennan-center-overview">Brennan Center for Justice, "What Is the First Step Act and What Is Happening With It," June 23, 2020, updated through 2024, https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/what-first-step-act-and-whats-happening-it.</ref>		In the first year after enactment, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reported 2,387 sentence reductions under the retroactive crack provision alone, with average reductions of 71 months, from 258 months to 187 months. Later summaries report that by the mid-2020s more than 4,000 people had received sentence reductions under this part of the law, separate from new cases sentenced under the updated rules.<ref name="brennan-center-overview">Brennan Center for Justice, "What Is the First Step Act and What Is Happening With It," June 23, 2020, updated through 2024, https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/what-first-step-act-and-whats-happening-it.</ref>

	The act also changes compassionate release. Before 2018, the Bureau of Prisons controlled most motions for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). The First Step Act allows prisoners to file motions directly in federal court after they finish internal requests. During the first year after enactment, courts granted 145 compassionate release motions, compared with 24 in 2018, and most successful motions came from people who filed on their own rather than from BOP requests. A later Sentencing Commission report on the COVID-19 period shows thousands of additional grants and confirms that judges, not BOP alone, now make most final decisions on compassionate release.<ref name="ussc-compassionate-release">U.S. Sentencing Commission, "Compassionate Release: The Impact of the First Step Act and COVID-19 Pandemic," March 10, 2022, https://www.ussc.gov/research/research-reports/compassionate-release-impact-first-step-act-and-covid-19-pandemic.</ref>		The act also changes [[Compassionate Release Policies\|compassionate release]]. Before 2018, the Bureau of Prisons controlled most motions for compassionate release under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A). The First Step Act allows prisoners to file motions directly in federal court after they finish internal requests. During the first year after enactment, courts granted 145 compassionate release motions, compared with 24 in 2018, and most successful motions came from people who filed on their own rather than from BOP requests. A later Sentencing Commission report on the COVID-19 period shows thousands of additional grants and confirms that judges, not BOP alone, now make most final decisions on compassionate release.<ref name="ussc-compassionate-release">U.S. Sentencing Commission, "Compassionate Release: The Impact of the First Step Act and COVID-19 Pandemic," March 10, 2022, https://www.ussc.gov/research/research-reports/compassionate-release-impact-first-step-act-and-covid-19-pandemic.</ref>

	The First Step Act also adds rules on placement and conditions of confinement. Provisions direct the Bureau of Prisons to try to place people within 500 driving miles of a primary residence when practicable, restrict restraints for pregnant prisoners, require free access to basic menstrual products, require new staff training on de-escalation and mental health, and limit solitary confinement for juveniles in federal custody. These measures shape daily life in federal facilities even for people whose sentence length does not change.		The First Step Act also adds rules on placement and conditions of confinement. Provisions direct the Bureau of Prisons to try to place people within 500 driving miles of a primary residence when practicable, restrict restraints for pregnant prisoners, require free access to basic menstrual products, require new staff training on de-escalation and mental health, and limit solitary confinement for juveniles in federal custody. These measures shape daily life in federal facilities even for people whose sentence length does not change.

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			[[Category:Prison Programming]]

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