First Step Act signed into law after 87-12 Senate vote (2018)
In December 2018 the United States enacted the First Step Act, the most significant federal criminal-justice reform in a generation. In the causal graph this event strengthens Supranational rule-of-law accountability pressure, a driver that strengthens Judicial constraints on the executive (V-Dem, global country mean) — an improving welfare path.
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In December 2018 the United States enacted the First Step Act, the most significant federal criminal-justice reform in a generation. The bipartisan law eased certain mandatory-minimum drug sentences, expanded the 'safety valve,' made the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act's crack-cocaine reductions retroactive, and created earned-time credits and rehabilitation programming for federal prisoners. Senators Dick Durbin and Chuck Grassley led the bill through the Judiciary Committee, with Cory Booker among its lead Democratic authors; the Senate passed the revised bill 87-12 before it was signed on December 21, 2018.
Who was responsible
Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.
Cory Booker
PersonDirect responsibility
verified
Cory Booker was one of the named bipartisan lawmakers who developed and advanced the First Step Act package that became law.
What changed
Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.
- FactFirst Step Act signed into law after 87-12 Senate vote (2018)
- strengthensDriverSupranational rule-of-law accountability pressure
- strengthensIndicators (5)Judicial constraints on the executive (V-Dem, global country mean)
impact weight 0.4 · Effect from 21 December 2018 · verified
While domestic rather than supranational, the First Step Act exemplifies legislative accountability mechanisms that push a justice system toward fairer, more rights-respecting outcomes; mapped here as a mild strengthening of accountability pressure given the available driver set.
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.22 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.55)
Observed
0.57 index score (0-1) · 0.23 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.5 index score (0-1) to 0.57 index score (0-1).
Above normal = better
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.19 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.47)
Observed
0.62 score from 0 to 1 · 0.25 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.37 score from 0 to 1 to 0.62 score from 0 to 1.
Above normal = better
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.18 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.45)
Observed
0.55 index score (0-1) · 0.26 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normalAbove normal = better
All indicators on this path (5)
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.13 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.33)
Observed
56.1 Score · 13.7 below the normal line (2024)
Worse than normal26 readings, 1996–2024: fell from 57 Score to 56.1 Score.
Above normal = better
- Better
Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.1 (weight 0.4 × strength 0.25)
Observed
42.5 index score (0-100) · 7.53 below the normal line (2025)
Worse than normalAbove normal = better
Causal path
How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.
- ActorCory Booker
- contributed toFactFirst Step Act signed into law after 87-12 Senate vote (2018)
- strengthensDriverSupranational rule-of-law accountability pressure
- strengthensIndicatorJudicial constraints on the executive (V-Dem, global country mean)
Cite this page
Factrail. (2026). First Step Act signed into law after 87-12 Senate vote (2018). Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/justice-fact-first-step-act-signed-2018
https://factrail.ai/facts/justice-fact-first-step-act-signed-2018
Accessed 15 October 2026.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed
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