First Step Implementation Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1251 To reform sentencing laws and correctional institutions, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 20, 2023 Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. KLO- BUCHAR, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. OSSOFF, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WICKER, Ms. LUMMIS, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To reform sentencing laws and correctional institutions, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘First Step Implementation Act of 2023’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 6 this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. TITLE I—SENTENCING REFORM Sec. 101. Application of First Step Act. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Apr 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1251.IS S1251 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1251 IS Sec. 102. Modifying safety valve for drug offenses. TITLE II—CORRECTIONS REFORM Sec. 201. Parole for juveniles. Sec. 202. Juvenile sealing and expungement. Sec. 203. Ensuring accuracy of Federal criminal records. TITLE I—SENTENCING REFORM 1 SEC. 101. APPLICATION OF FIRST STEP ACT. 2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 3 (1) the term ‘‘covered offense’’ means— 4 (A) a violation of a Federal criminal stat- 5 ute, the statutory penalties for which were 6 modified by section 401 or 403 of the First 7 Step Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–391; 132 8 Stat. 5220), that was committed on or before 9 December 21, 2018; or 10 (B) a violation of a Federal criminal stat- 11 ute, the statutory penalties for which are modi- 12 fied by subsection (b) of this section; and 13 (2) the term ‘‘serious violent felony’’ has the 14 meaning given that term in section 102 of the Con- 15 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802). 16 (b) AMENDMENTS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.— 18 (A) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT.—Sec- 19 tion 401(b) of the Controlled Substances Act 20 (21 U.S.C. 841(b)) is amended— 21 (i) in paragraph (1)— 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Apr 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1251.IS S1251 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1251 IS (I) in subparagraph (C), by strik- 1 ing ‘‘felony drug offense’’ and insert- 2 ing ‘‘serious drug felony or serious 3 violent felony’’; 4 (II) in subparagraph (D), by 5 striking ‘‘felony drug offense’’ and in- 6 serting ‘‘serious drug felony or serious 7 violent felony’’; and 8 (III) in subparagraph (E)(ii), by 9 striking ‘‘felony drug offense’’ and in- 10 serting ‘‘serious drug felony or serious 11 violent felony’’; 12 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘fel- 13 ony drug offense’’ and inserting ‘‘serious 14 drug felony or serious violent felony’’; and 15 (iii) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘fel- 16 ony drug offense’’ and inserting ‘‘serious 17 drug felony or serious violent felony’’. 18 (B) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES IMPORT 19 AND EXPORT ACT.—Section 1010(b)(3) of the 20 Controlled Substances Import and Export Act 21 (21 U.S.C. 960(b)(3)) is amended by striking 22 ‘‘felony drug offense’’ and inserting ‘‘serious 23 drug felony or serious violent felony’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Apr 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1251.IS S1251 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1251 IS (2) PENDING CASES.—This subsection, and the 1 amendments made by this subsection, shall apply to 2 any sentence imposed on or after the date of enact- 3 ment of this Act, regardless of when the offense was 4 committed. 5 (c) DEFENDANTS PREVIOUSLY SENTENCED.—A 6 court that imposed a sentence for a covered offense may, 7 on motion of the defendant, the Director of the Bureau 8 of Prisons, the attorney for the Government, or the court, 9 impose a reduced sentence as if sections 401 and 403 of 10 the First Step Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–391; 132 11 Stat. 5220) and the amendments made by subsection (b) 12 of this section were in effect at the time the covered of- 13 fense was committed if, after considering the factors set 14 forth in section 3553(a) of title 18, United States Code, 15 the nature and seriousness of the danger to any person, 16 the community, or any crime victims, and the post-sen- 17 tencing conduct of the defendant, the sentencing court 18 finds a reduction is consistent with the amendments made 19 by section 401 or 403 of the First Step Act of 2018 (Pub- 20 lic Law 115–391; 132 Stat. 5220) or with subsection (b) 21 of this section. 22 (d) CRIME VICTIMS.—Any proceeding under this sec- 23 tion shall be subject to section 3771 of title 18, United 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Apr 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1251.IS S1251 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1251 IS States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Crime Victims’ 1 Rights Act’’). 2 (e) REQUIREMENT.—For each motion filed under 3 subsection (c), the Government shall conduct a particular- 4 ized inquiry of the facts and circumstances of the original 5 sentencing of the defendant in order to assess whether a 6 reduction in sentence would be consistent with the First 7 Step Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–391; 132 Stat. 5194) 8 and the amendments made by that Act, including a review 9 of any prior criminal conduct or any other relevant infor- 10 mation from Federal, State, and local authorities. 11 SEC. 102. MODIFYING SAFETY VALVE FOR DRUG OFFENSES. 12 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 3553 of title 18, United 13 States Code, is amended— 14 (1) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub- 15 section (h); and 16 (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(g) INADEQUACY OF CRIMINAL HISTORY.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If subsection (f) does not 20 apply to a defendant because the defendant does not 21 meet the requirements described in subsection (f)(1) 22 (relating to criminal history), the court may, upon 23 prior notice to the Government, waive subsection 24 (f)(1) if the court specifies in writing the specific 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Apr 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1251.IS S1251 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1251 IS reasons why reliable information indicates that ex- 1 cluding the defendant pursuant to subsection (f)(1) 2 substantially overrepresents the seriousness of the 3 defendant’s criminal history or the likelihood that 4 the defendant will commit other crimes. 5 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—This subsection shall not 6 apply to any defendant who has been convicted of a 7 serious drug felony or a serious violent felony, as 8 those terms are defined in section 102 of the Con- 9 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802).’’. 10 TITLE II—CORRECTIONS 11 REFORM 12 SEC. 201. PAROLE FOR JUVENILES. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 403 of title 18, United 14 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 5032 15 the following: 16 ‘‘§ 5032A. Modification of an imposed term of impris- 17 onment for violations of law committed 18 prior to age 18 19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro- 20 vision of law, a court may reduce a term of imprisonment 21 imposed upon a defendant convicted as an adult for an 22 offense committed and completed before the defendant at- 23 tained 18 years of age if— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Apr 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1251.IS S1251 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1251 IS ‘‘(1) the defendant has served not less than 20 1 years in custody for the offense; and 2 ‘‘(2) the court finds, after considering the fac- 3 tors set forth in subsection (c), that the defendant 4 is not a danger to the safety of any person or the 5 community and that the interests of justice warrant 6 a sentence modification. 7 ‘‘(b) SUPERVISED RELEASE.—Any defendant whose 8 sentence is reduced pursuant to subsection (a) shall be or- 9 dered to serve a period of supervised release of not less 10 than 5 years following release from imprisonment. The 11 conditions of supervised release and any modification or 12 revocation of the term of supervise release shall be in ac- 13 cordance with section 3583. 14 ‘‘(c) FACTORS AND INFORMATION TO BE CONSID- 15 ERED IN DETERMINING WHETHER TO MODIFY A TERM 16 OF IMPRISONMENT.—The court, in determining whether 17 to reduce a term of imprisonment pursuant to subsection 18 (a), shall consider— 19 ‘‘(1) the factors described in section 3553(a), 20 including the nature of the offense and the history 21 and characteristics of the defendant; 22 ‘‘(2) the age of the defendant at the time of the 23 offense; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Apr 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1251.IS S1251 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1251 IS ‘‘(3) a report and recommendation of the Bu- 1 reau of Prisons, including information on whether 2 the defendant has substantially complied with the 3 rules of each institution in which the defendant has 4 been confined and whether the defendant has com- 5 pleted any educational, vocational, or other prison 6 program, where available; 7 ‘‘(4) a report and recommendation of the 8 United States attorney for any district in which an 9 offense for which the defendant is imprisoned was 10 prosecuted; 11 ‘‘(5) whether the defendant has demonstrated 12 maturity, rehabilitation, and a fitness to reenter so- 13 ciety sufficient to justify a sentence reduction; 14 ‘‘(6) any statement, which may be presented 15 orally or otherwise, by any victim of an offense for 16 which the defendant is imprisoned or by a family 17 member of the victim if the victim is deceased; 18 ‘‘(7) any report from a physical, mental, or psy- 19 chiatric examination of the defendant conducted by 20 a licensed health care professional; 21 ‘‘(8) the family and community circumstances 22 of the defendant at the time of the offense, including 23 any history of abuse, trauma, or involvement in the 24 child welfare system; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Apr 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1251.IS S1251 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1251 IS ‘‘(9) the extent of the role of the defendant in 1 the offense and whether, and to what extent, an 2 adult was involved in the offense; 3 ‘‘(10) the diminished culpability of juveniles as 4 compared to that of adults, and the hallmark fea- 5 tures of youth, including immaturity, impetuosity, 6 and failure to appreciate risks and consequences, 7 which counsel against sentencing juveniles to the 8 otherwise applicable term of imprisonment; and 9 ‘‘(11) any other information the court deter- 10 mines relevant to the decision of the court. 11 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON APPLICATIONS PURSUANT TO 12 THIS SECTION.— 13 ‘‘(1) SECOND APPLICATION.—Not earlier than 14 5 years after the date on which an order entered by 15 a court on an initial application under this section 16 becomes final, a court shall entertain a second appli- 17 cation by the same defendant under this section. 18 ‘‘(2) FINAL APPLICATION.—Not earlier than 5 19 years after the date on which an order entered by 20 a court on a second application under paragraph (1) 21 becomes final, a court shall entertain a final applica- 22 tion by the same defendant under this section. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Apr 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1251.IS S1251 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1251 IS ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION.—A court may not entertain 1 an application filed after an application filed under 2 paragraph (2) by the same defendant. 3 ‘‘(e) PROCEDURES.— 4 ‘‘(1) NOTICE.—The Bureau of Prisons shall 5 provide written notice of this section to— 6 ‘‘(A) any defendant who has served not 7 less than 19 years in prison for an offense com- 8 mitted and completed before the defendant at- 9 tained 18 years of age for which the defendant 10 was convicted as an adult; and 11 ‘‘(B) the sentencing court, the United 12 States attorney, and the Federal Public De- 13 fender or Executive Director of the Community 14 Defender Organization for the judicial district 15 in which the sentence described in subpara- 16 graph (A) was imposed. 17 ‘‘(2) CRIME VICTIMS’ RIGHTS.—Upon receiving 18 notice under paragraph (1), the United States attor- 19 ney shall provide any notifications required under 20 section 3771. 21 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An application for a 23 sentence reduction under this section shall be 24 filed as a motion to reduce the sentence of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Apr 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1251.IS S1251 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1251 IS defendant and may include affidavits or other 1 written material. 2 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—A motion to reduce 3 a sentence under this section shall be filed with 4 the sentencing court and a copy shall be served 5 on the United States attorney for the judicial 6 district in which the sentence was imposed. 7 ‘‘(4) EXPANDING THE RECORD; HEARING.— 8 ‘‘(A) EXPANDING THE RECORD.—After the 9 filing of a motion to reduce a sentence under 10 this section, the court may direct the parties to 11 expand the record by submitting additional 12 written materials relating to the motion. 13 ‘‘(B) HEARING.— 14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The court shall 15 conduct a hearing on the motion, at which 16 the defendant and counsel for the defend- 17 ant shall be given the opportunity to be 18 heard. 19 ‘‘(ii) EVIDENCE.—In a hearing under 20 this section, the court may allow parties to 21 present evidence. 22 ‘‘(iii) DEFENDANT’S PRESENCE.—At 23 a hearing under this section, the defendant 24 shall be present unless the defendant 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Apr 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1251.IS S1251 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1251 IS waives the right to be present. The re- 1 quirement under this clause may be satis- 2 fied by the defendant appearing by video 3 teleconference. 4 ‘‘(iv) COUNSEL.—A defendant who is 5 unable to obtain counsel is entitled to have 6 counsel appointed to represent the defend- 7 ant for proceedings under this section, in- 8 cluding any appeal, unless the defendant 9 waives the right to counsel. 10 ‘‘(v) FINDINGS.—The court shall state 11 in open court, and file in writing, the rea- 12 sons for granting or denying a motion 13 under this section. 14 ‘‘(C) APPEAL.—The Government or the 15 defendant may file a notice of appeal in the dis- 16 trict court for review of a final order under this 17 section. The time limit for filing such appeal 18 shall be [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]