First Step Act draws mixed reviews among Minnesota justice observers
A longtime battle in Minnesota to overhaul criminal sentencing laws is getting a new boost now that President Donald Trump and a broad coalition of congressional members are looking to make significant changes to the nation’s justice system.
The First Step Act would revamp much-criticized federal policies of the 1980s and ’90s that ballooned the nation’s prison population while locking up black offenders at disproportionately higher rates than white offenders. The proposal also would make it easier for former inmates to get the skills and jobs they need to stay out of prison.
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Elianne Farhat, executive director of TakeAction Minnesota, said she was “deeply concerned” by certain provisions in the federal bill, including the continued use of risk-assessment algorithms to sentence offenders. Some studies have suggested those algorithms are racially biased, she said. Farhat said she is also concerned the measure drops a provision to make repeal of the federal “three strikes” rule retroactive. The law significantly increases prison sentences for those convicted of a third felony offense, often guaranteeing a life sentence.
“We have to make sure that the thing that we are passing doesn’t make things worse, and continues to perpetuate some of the worst race and class disparities in sentencing,” Farhat said. “This just is not a bill that we have confidence will make the changes we need at the federal level or trickle down in a meaningful or just way to states.”
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