The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday easily passed legislation that aims to reform the federal prison system and lower rates of recidivism.
The legislation sponsored by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, introduced roughly a year ago, is one of the many bills that has been approved by the House Judiciary Committee as part of a bipartisan push for criminal justice reform.
Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., praised the bill’s “meaningful reforms to the prison system that strengthen the safety of our communities and provide inmates the help that they need while in prison to help them better reenter society upon their release.”
“For too long, our prisons have simply warehoused individuals whom we know will eventually return to society and, for their benefit and ours, it simply makes sense that we provide incentives for prisoners to be better prepared to re-enter and be productive members of their communities. Adoption of this bill by the committee is a good first step toward making our federal prison system more humane, more effective, and less costly,” Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., said Thursday.
Among other things, the bill would expand recidivism reduction programs by allowing inmates to get credits for taking part in programs like education or job training. It would also create a system for assessing the risk that an inmate will commit more crimes, and create incentives for prisoners to participate in recidivism reduction programs.
It would also update prison security features, such as allowing prison employees above the medium security level to use pepper spray. Correctional officers would be provided with the opportunity to participate in de-escalation training as part of regular training requirements.
Koch Industries, which has pushed for prison reform legislation, voiced its support of the legislation ahead of Thursday’s committee meeting.
“The bill is designed to provide individuals with skills and training to reduce significantly the likelihood that they reoffend and increases the probability that they can lead a productive life after incarceration,” Mark Holden, general counsel and senior vice president at Koch Industries, wrote in a post. “Koch is a proponent of second chances for ex-offenders. We believe that this bill is an important part of helping people improve their lives after running afoul of the law.”
