>>Senate Passes First Step Act Which Reforms Criminal Justice System
(Washington, DC) — The U.S. Senate is backing major changes to sentencing laws by overwhelmingly passing the First Step Act tonight on an 87-to-12 vote. The House passed a similar version in May. Leaders there say they will take up the Senate version this week. President Trump is a supporter of the bipartisan bill. The bill expands job training and other prison programs designed to keep inmates from returning once they are free. It also expands early-release programs for low-risk inmates. The passage is a rare bipartisan moment in a deeply divided Congress. It had the support of both the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Conservative Union. There are more than two-point-three million people locked up in U.S. prisons, more than any other country in the world.
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Ken Sain/am
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