The long overdue and badly-needed law, the First Step Act, reforming federal criminal law and sentencing was passed yesterday in the U.S. Senate garnering a huge 87-12 majority. There are numerous reports: Senate Passes Bipartisan Criminal Justice Bill, Senate Overwhelmingly Backs Overhaul of Criminal Justice System, and The Senate Just Passed Criminal Justice Reform.
The House is expected to also pass the law and President Trump to sign it in the next few days.
Professor Doug Berman has a post reciting the very long gestation period for this act to get to the verge of law: On cusp of enactment of FIRST STEP Act, a brief trip to the archives via the (not-so-)way back machine.
We'll discuss the substance, which is substantial, in later posts; I don't want to jinx any further action.
