The First Step Act Was Only a First Step: The Case for More Reform

Where the First Step Act left off

President Trump signed the First Step Act on December 21, 2018. It was the first prison reform law in years, and it passed with overwhelming support from both parties in the House and Senate. Lawmakers on both sides have since praised it, but its supporters saw it as a starting point, not the finish line, and hoped it would spark more reform across the nation.

Update (October 2026): Several of the sentencing changes discussed here, like the new limits on stacked § 924(c) gun penalties, still apply only to people sentenced after December 21, 2018. Congress has not made them retroactive. In 2026, the Supreme Court held in Rutherford v. United States that the gap between old and new sentences cannot by itself be an "extraordinary and compelling" reason for compassionate release.

What the First Step Act did

The law aimed in part to lower the federal prison population and to address some core problems in the justice system. It:

• Reduced some mandatory minimum sentences, which are the lowest sentences a judge is allowed to give for certain crimes, for fairer, more proportional sentencing.
• Expanded programs in prison that let people earn credits toward early transfer to a halfway house or home confinement.

One advocate's case for going further

Mark Holden, then general counsel of Koch Industries, believed more must be done to fix a flawed justice system and argued that Congress should build on the law. His ideas included:

• Making some of the First Step Act's sentencing changes retroactive, so they help people already in prison.
• Sending more nonviolent offenders to treatment and other programs, and saving prison beds for truly dangerous people.
• Requiring prosecutors to share all evidence about a case with the accused.
• Clarifying criminal intent requirements in federal law, to prevent unnecessary backlogs in the courts and rein in America's confusing federal criminal regulatory code.

Reform after release

Holden also said reform has to go beyond the sentence itself.

Hiring practices that shut people out need to be addressed, and soon. All too often, people leaving prison have little or no chance to rebuild their careers. Holden urged businesses to hire qualified people regardless of their records, so people have a real chance to resume their lives after prison. He also called on the private sector, civic groups, and communities to make sure people coming home have housing and the resources they need to become valued members of their communities.

For people still in prison, he called for job training and programs that help them handle problems they may face after release.

In Holden's view, there is a moral duty to keep pushing for justice reform and to help unleash the potential in everyone. America can, and should, build on the foundation the First Step Act provides.

Source: Mark Holden, "The First Step Act: It's Only a 'First Step'," The Crime Report, February 18, 2019.

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