Some early celebrations of the FIRST STEP Act at five

In May 2018, the US House of Representatives under the leadership of House Speaker Paul Ryan (remember him?) voted by a margin of 360-59 to pass the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act or the FIRST STEP Act.   After much debate over the reach of the bill, in mid December 2018, the US Senate under the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (remember him?) voted by a margin of 87-12 to pass a somewhat bigger and broader version of the First Step Act.  After the House blessed the new version by a vote of 358-36, the final First Step Act went to the desk of President Donald Trump for signature on December 21, 2018.

I bring up this history because, arguably, the fifth anniversary of the First Step Act might be celebrated at many times.  But, techinically, we are still a week away from the official signing day for this consequental law.  But I have seen various reports of various forms of celebration and commentary as we approach the First Step at five, and I figured I could usefully do a quick round up here:

From the US Senate Judiciart Committe, “Durbin, Booker Celebrate Fifth Anniversary of the First Step Act on Senate Floor“

From Kevin Ring writing in The Hill, “The First Step Act wasn’t a mistake — but criminal justice reformers dropped the ball“

From Puck, “A Night for First Steps“

From Reason, “Colleen Eren: Why Donald Trump Signed the FIRST STEP Act“