Over 60% in Chicago seeking early prison release under Trump’s First Step Act go free
Federal prisoners aiming to get out early under the law that Republicans,
Democrats, the ACLU and Kanye West backed include crooked Chicago cops and gang kingpins.
By Frank Main and Jon Seidel Jun 26, 2020, 5:30am CDT
The American Civil Liberties Union and President Donald Trump don’t agree on a lot. But in 2018, Trump signed a law called the First Step Act that had the backing of a broad range of supporters including the ACLU, Republicans and Democrats and Kanye West, who had lobbied the president during a White House visit.
The law gives prisoners convicted of federal crimes a chance to get their time behind bars shortened and lets elderly and sick inmates seek compassionate releases.
In Chicago, hundreds of prisoners, including some of the nation’s most notorious criminals, are using the law to try to get out of prison. And their odds of getting out are good, a Chicago Sun-Times examination of 200 of those cases has found.
Judges here have approved more than 60% of the requests they’ve ruled on, court records show, often over the objections of prosecutors. They so far have granted sentence reductions in 75 of the 200 cases. Forty-five requests were denied. The rest are awaiting a ruling.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/6/26/21299267/first-step-act-trump-joseph-miedzianowski-richard-bailey-larry-hoover-marvel-thompson-paul-schiro
