The First Step Act

President Trump signed the First Step Act on December 21, 2018, after it passed the Senate 87 to 12 and the House 358 to 36, backed by an unusual coalition of conservatives, progressives, and religious groups. It was the most significant federal criminal justice reform in decades, though it applies only to the federal system, which holds about one in eight American prisoners.

The law reduced some mandatory minimum sentences for repeat drug offenses, such as cutting a mandatory life sentence for a third conviction to 25 years, widened the safety valve that lets judges go below minimums for low-level offenders, and made the 2010 reduction in crack cocaine penalties retroactive, leading to the release of thousands of people. It fixed how good conduct time is calculated and let prisoners ask courts directly for compassionate release, for example when terminally ill.

Its core is a system of earned time credits: prisoners judged at minimum or low risk of reoffending can earn up to 15 days off their time in prison, or toward home confinement and halfway houses, for every 30 days of rehabilitation and work programs. Tens of thousands have used the credits. Staff shortages at the Bureau of Prisons have limited programs and delayed transfers, and in 2026 the bureau proposed rules to apply credits more consistently. Supporters say the law reduces reoffending and costs, while some prosecutors argued it released dangerous people early.