Attorney General William Barr says the Justice Department is “all in” on a criminal justice overhaul.

Barr gets firsthand look at First Step Act to reform justice

EDGEFIELD, S.C. — About 2,200 federal inmates will be released Friday by the federal Bureau of Prisons under a criminal justice reform measure signed into law last year by President Donald Trump.

The measure, known as the First Step Act, gives judges more discretion when sentencing some drug offenders, eases mandatory minimum sentences and encourages inmates to participate in programs designed to reduce the risk of recidivism.

On a visit this past week to FCI Edgefield, a prison in rural South Carolina, Attorney General William Barr took a firsthand look at some of the programs in place. He met with prison staff and a handful of inmates, including some who will be released early.

“We’re focusing on building on the programs, the re-entry programs we need, and getting the funding to do it,” Barr said in an interview this past week with The Associated Press.

For inmates like Leroy Nolan, who was first sentenced in 1994 to life behind bars for a drug convictions before it was reduced to more than 30 years, the First Step Act is a welcome reform. He’s set to be released Friday after serving about 85 percent of his sentence.

“I made the mistake of getting into drugs,” Nolan told Barr and the state’s two senators, Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham, who accompanied the attorney general on the Edgefield tour. “You’re good role models.”

The Justice Department has been working to meet the deadlines set by Congress for the First Step Act and is expected to unveil a risk-assessment tool this week that will help to evaluate federal inmates and ultimately could speed up their release.

Barr said the Justice Department and the Bureau of Prisons are “all in in terms of making it work.”

During the tour, Barr met with inmates who act as mentors, a prison psychologist and instructors who help prisoners create resumes and participate in job fairs.

“I’m impressed with how it’s going,” he said of the First Step Act’s implementation. “While there are a few things I probably would have done a little bit different, I generally support the thrust of the First Step Act.”

Under the resentencing provisions of the law, more than 1,600 inmates have qualified for a reduced sentence and more than 1,100 have already been released, a Justice Department official said. This is in addition to the 2,200 to be released Friday.

William Barr