The New Criminal Justice Reform Law Has Already Righted One Outrageous Injustice

Matthew Charles, a rehabilitated felon whose mistaken release and reincarceration drew nationwide outcry, will be freed from prison on Thursday at the order of a federal judge. Charles, who already served 20 年徒刑, received a sentence reduction under the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill that President Donald Trump signed on Dec. 21.

在 1996, a jury convicted Charles on charges related to the distribution of crack cocaine and unlawful possession of firearms. He received a 35-year-sentence under a law that harshly penalized crack, treating one gram of the drug like 100 grams of powder cocaine.