Murkowski Votes Against FIRST STEP
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) issued the following statement after voting no on the final version of the FIRST STEP Act, criminal justice reform to American’s prison and sentencing system.
“I supported amendments that defended victims’ rights and would have tightened-up exclusions that unfortunately were not included in the final version of the bill,” said Senator Murkowski. “Reforming our nation’s criminal justice system is no small task and one that needs to be fully thought out and vetted. In Alaska we attempted criminal justice reform in the course of a rising drug epidemic. There is concern that we did too much, too quickly, at the wrong time. I want to ensure we don’t make the same mistake with our federal corrections system. With the limited time we had to consider this significant reform, I was unable to support the legislation.”
