4/9/08 - President Bush signs the Second Chance Act
In a White House ceremony today, President Bush signed the Second Chance Act, legislation designed to aid former prisoners coping with the challenges of reentry. Want to learn more about the Second Chance Act? Click here to read FAMM's frequently asked questions (FAQs).
Click here to read the official transcript of the bill signing ceremony, posted on the White House website.
4/3/08 - Second Chance Act to be signed on April 9
The Second Chance Act will be signed by President Bush at a ceremony in the White House on Wednesday, April 9. The announcement can be found in the fine print at the bottom of this Forbes article.
4/1/08 - Update on the Second Chance Act
The President has not yet received a copy of the Second Chance Act as of April 1. Once the president receives a copy of the bill, he has ten days to either sign the bill into law or veto the bill. If he neither signs nor vetoes the bill in that ten day period, the bill becomes law. FAMM will post additional information on our website as it becomes available.
3/20/08 - Questions about the Second Chance Act?
Download FAMM's answers to frequently asked questions about the Second Chance Act. The file is in Adobe pdf format. Click here
3/11/08 - Second Chance Act passes Congress!
On Tuesday, March 11, the U.S. Senate passed The Second Chance Act, legislation designed to aid former prisoners coping with the challenges of reentry. The Second Chance Act authorizes federal funding to states, local governments and nonprofit prisoner reentry organizations to help former prisoners obtain job training, literacy training, substance abuse treatment, counseling, housing and mentoring services. Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) and other advocacy, civil rights and religious organizations supported the passage of the Second Chance Act, which now awaits the signature of President Bush before it can become law.
The Senate version of the Second Chance Act was introduced by U.S. Senators Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-Del.), Arlen Specter (R-Penn.), Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) and Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT). The bipartisan bill was passed by voice vote after the Senate adopted a concurrent resolution (H Con Res 270) that made minor changes to the Second Chance Act, including limiting the federal share of project costs for some reentry programs. In November 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 347 to 62 to pass the Second Chance Act.
The Second Chance Act also includes a limited pilot program for early release of eligible nonviolent elderly prisoners over the age of 65 who have served the greater of 10 years or 75 percent of the term of imprisonment to which the individual was sentenced.
The Second Chance Act is Congress’ response, in part, to the growing number of individuals in prison. “In recent years, this Congress and the states have passed a myriad of new criminal laws creating more and longer sentences for more and more crimes. As a result, this country sends more and more people to prison every year. There are currently more than two million people in jail or prison, and there are more than 13 million people who spend some time in jail or prison each year. Most of these people will at some point return to our communities,” said Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). “What kind of experience inmates have in prison, how we prepare them to rejoin society, and how we integrate them into the broader community when they get out are issues that profoundly affect the communities in which we live.”
“The Second Chance Act will go a long way to help these ex-offenders reintegrate into the community and become productive, contributing members of our community. Congress has passed this critical legislation, and I hope the President quickly signs it into law,” said Senator Biden.
President Bush must sign the Second Chance Act before it becomes law. Julie Stewart, president of FAMM, called on the President to sign the Second Chance Act, noting, “Providing prisoners a second chance is the right thing to do. This bill provides essential programs that will support successful rehabilitation and reentry. Handing prisoners the tools to be successful will also help make our communities safer.”
- Final text of the Second Chance Act that was signed into law. Click here to read the law.
- Full GPO text of the Second Chance Act.
- Read the Concurrent Resolution that amends the language of the bill, H Con Res 270
- Check FAMM’s bill summaries for a full analysis of the Second Chance in upcoming days.