# First Step Act signed into law after 87-12 Senate vote (2018)

Date: 2018

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](/people/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.

## People

- Cory Booker: https://factrail.ai/people/justice-cory-booker

## Drivers

- Supranational rule-of-law accountability pressure: https://factrail.ai/drivers/justice-supranational-accountability-pressure

## Sources

_Sources are listed on the canonical page._

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/justice-fact-first-step-act-signed-2018