First Step Act reduces the mandatory sentence for three-strikes offenders but the provisions will not be made retroactiveOn paper, Chris Young seems exactly the kind of person a prison reform bill ought to release from federal custody. Under so-called “three strikes” laws, he was given a mandatory life sentence. In one of many compromises made by progressive reform advocates to secure conservative support, this and several other provisions were not made retroactive. “I’m human and I would have loved to have benefited from the bill, but unfortunately I don’t,” Young told the Guardian from federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky. Chad Marks is serving a 40-year sentence on drug conspiracy charges, thanks to another provision First Step will restrict.

Source: The Guardian December 22, 2018 06:00 UTC