South Florida Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
The Federal Sentencing Alliance and Attorney Ralph S. Behr have co-authored “Prison Term Reduction Recidivism Reduction Programs and Inmate Early Release Under the First Step Act,” a book analyzing and critiquing the First Step Act. The book is the most comprehensive analysis of the First Step Act time credits system published to date. Attorneys will find this publication to be a resourceful utility when dealing with time credit disputes.
The authors analyze the numerous pitfalls of the act, ranging from individualized time credit disputes to systematic claims of undermining. Since the act’s inception in 2018, hundreds of prisoners, attorneys, and lawmakers have claimed of the shortfalls, disparities, and discrepancies apparent in the system created by the act.
For example, in 2019 Illinois State Senator Dick Durbin accused the Bureau of Prisons of undermining the First Step Act by intentionally resisting retroactive sentencing relief. According to Senator Durbin, of the 31,000 inmates who requested compassionate release during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of Prisons approved a mere 36.
Numerous claims have been made regarding the ineffective nature of the First Step Act. Pundits assert the Bureau of Prisons has shortened the date spans for prisoner release, arbitrarily shortened the timing of awards, and failed to make a timely implementation of earned time credits. The result: the Department of Justice and Bureau of prisons have joined forces to arbitrarily implement policies that squander any chance of success under the First Step Act.
In their book, Attorney Ralph Behr and the Federal Sentencing Alliance examine the failures of the First Step Act. This book is the premier guide for prisoners, prisoner’s families, and prisoner’s attorneys who are facing time credit disputes.
The Authors
Attorney Behr is a board certified criminal trial attorney located in South Florida. He practices in Florida and New York state and federal courts. His practices concentrates on major white collar crimes, major felonies, drug trafficking, and tax fraud. Attorney Behr is passionate about criminal defense and prisoner’s rights.
The Federal Sentencing Alliance is a national consortium of federal sentencing mitigation experts. The Federal Sentencing Alliance is an expert team of attorneys specializing in all aspects of federal sentencing mitigation, offering full investigative services nationwide at all stages of prosecution. The Federal Sentencing Alliance has several publications relating to key provisions of the First Step Act of 2018 available at www.federalsentencingalliance.com.
The Federal Sentencing Alliance is prepared to assist attorneys in sentencing mitigation.
Ralph S. Behr
General Counsel, Federal Sentencing Alliance.