Submitted by United States Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana
WASHINGTON (Feb. 28, 2024) – Senator John Kennedy (R-La), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned Colette Peters, the director of the Bureau of Prisons, about the recidivism rate associated with criminals released under the First Step Act.
Kennedy: “How many criminals have you released under the First Step Act?”
. . .
Peters: “We have about 30,000 individuals that have been released since the passage of the First Step Act.”
Kennedy: “All right, so you’ve released 30,000 criminals under the First Step Act, okay? . . . Before you released them, did you contact any of their victims to say, ‘We’re about to let this guy out’?”
Peters: “Senator, it’s my understanding that that notification happens through the U.S. Attorney’s Office, but I will check into that and get back to you.”
Kennedy: “You don’t know?”
Peters: “Senator, I don’t.”
. . .
Kennedy: “Wow. Okay, of the 30,000 criminals you let free, how many of them have come back, have committed a crime again, hurt somebody else?”
Peters: “So, that number is one that we’re still looking at as it relates to the recidivism rate for those that were released on the First Step Act.”
Kennedy: “You don’t have any idea?”
Peters: “No, Senator.”
. . .
Kennedy: “So let me get this straight: The First Step Act was passed in 2018. This is 2024, am I right so far?”
Peters: “That’s correct.”
Kennedy: “That’s six years, and, in six years, you’ve let 30,000 criminals go, right?”
Peters: “That’s correct.”
Kennedy: “And you don’t have the slightest idea how many of them committed another crime and came back?”
Peters: “I don’t have that number in front of me, sir.”
Kennedy: “And you run the Bureau of Prisons?”
Peters: “That’s correct.”
. . .
Kennedy: “You know, [we] were told that it would save money and it would be in the interest of public safety to release criminals from prison. I didn’t vote for it, but the majority rules, and so Congress did it.
“And Ms. Peters, Director Peters at the Bureau of Prisons, and her colleagues released 30,000 criminals, all of whom are there for a reason, okay? They didn’t just go to prison for a free toaster. They were there for a reason.
“And, so, her department let them go, and, after six years, we don’t have the slightest idea. Not a single one of the 40,000 of her employees [knows] how many have committed a second crime and come back. So, how the hell are we supposed to figure out whether it worked?”
. . .Kennedy: “The director let 30,000 of these folks go and can’t tell me today how many have come back. . . . It takes my breath away.”
