“Now there’s another key indication that the First Step Act isn’t being implemented as criminal justice reform groups and some lawmakers intended. On Monday, the Justice Department announced that the Hudson Institute, a conservative DC-based think tank whose leaders have espoused harsh views on incarceration, would choose the members of an independent committee to help develop a risk assessment tool—a crucial component of the law, as it will be used to determine which federal offenders get access to certain rehabilitative programs and therefore establish how long they remain in prison. “

Mother Jones

April 11, 2019