Spotlight Announcement

8/3/2007: Senate Judiciary Committee Passes Second Chance Act

On August 2, 2007, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee completed the mark-up of S. 1060, the Second Chance Act of 2007. The bill will now be sent to the Senate floor for consideration, which sponsors say will take place shortly after the August recess.

The committee accepted an amendment, introduced by Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), which excludes sex offenders from the early release program for elderly prisoners. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) also introduced an amendment which would change the federal matching formula from 75/25 to 50/50. This amendment was voted down in the committee.

The bipartisan bill has 30 cosponsors in the Senate, including Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), who have been strong supporters of the bill.

"It is vitally important that we do everything we can to ensure that, when people get out of prison, they enter our communities as productive members of society, so we can start to reverse the dangerous cycles of recidivism and violence. I hope that the Second Chance Act will help us begin to break that cycle, and I am glad that the Senate Judiciary Committee reported it favorably with a strong bipartisan vote today," said Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

"The Second Chance Act will provide an opportunity for realistic rehabilitation for the more than 650,000 inmates who return to their communities each year," said Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA). "The bill's focus on education, job training, and substance abuse treatment is essential to decreasing the nationwide recidivism rate of 66 percent."

In the House, key sponsors are working to bring the bill to the floor for a vote when Congress reconvenes in September.

The Second Chance Act would authorize a $65 million reentry grant program administered through the Department of Justice for state and county reentry initiatives and a $15 million reentry program for community and faith-based organizations to deliver mentoring and transitional services. The bill also includes drug treatment and mentoring grant programs.

For more information on the Second Chance Act, please click here or email scainfo@csg.org.