PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 98.
Congressional Research Service
Version 25 · Reported to Senate · Jul 12, 2021
First Step Implementation Act of 2021
This bill makes various changes related to federal sentencing law and requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish procedures to ensure the prompt release and accuracy of employment-related background check records.
The bill
allows certain reduced mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses to be applied retroactively to offenders who committed their offenses on or before December 21, 2018;
permits a court, in certain circumstances, to grant safety valve relief (i.e., impose a sentence without regard to the statutory mandatory minimum penalty for certain drug offenses) for an otherwise eligible defendant who does not meet the requirement pertaining to criminal history;
permits a court to reduce a sentence imposed on a defendant convicted as an adult for an offense committed as a juvenile if the defendant has served at least 20 years of the sentence;
establishes a process to seal and expunge certain records of juvenile nonviolent offenses; and
requires DOJ to establish and enforce procedures to ensure that records exchanged for employment-related background checks are promptly released and accurate.
People & committees
Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] · D–IL
Legislative record
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Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 98.
Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Durbin with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Durbin with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S1820-1826)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Aug 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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Analyze S.1014 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
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