The First Step Act Doesn’t Do Enough about Gangs

“Communities do not have ‘gang problems.’ America has a gang crisis.”

No one can credibly endorse sweeping criminal justice “reforms” without seriously factoring gangs into the equation. As such, the debate over the First Step Act provides an opportunity to make an evaluation. Did proponents address criminal street gangs? Where so, the advocates could be considered informed. If not, their takes are suspect.

Cobb County Georgia District Attorney Vic Reynolds and his chief gang prosecutor, Mike Carlson, admonish, “Communities do not have ‘gang problems.’ America has a gang crisis.” Widely available evidence validates their conclusion. For instance:

• Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has accurately explained, “In America, nearly half of all violent crimes are gang-related.”
• Columnist Phil Kent recently identified that federal studies estimated gang membership in the United States at 1.4 million members, representing more than 33,000 gangs nearly a decade ago.
• Another federal report determined that gangs are the primary retail-level distributors of most illegal narcotics.
• In 2018, the Georgia Gang Investigators Association’s study established that there are over 70,000 gang members and associates in the Peach State alone.
• United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, Bobby Christine remarked that in 2018 the number of gang members in Georgia likely exceeded the membership for ISIS at its height.

Penitentiaries are incubators for gang activity, development, and recruitment. The First Step Act, by design, will shorten prison sentences for federal inmates, releasing convicted felons back into society at an accelerated rate. Anyone who thinks that the likes of MS-13, Bloods, and Ghost Face Gangsters, to name a few, will not attempt to take advantage of the First Step Act is simply uninformed, uninterested, or in denial.

Yet and still, First Step Act enthusiasts maintain that it was drafted with public safety in mind. At the same time, they routinely fail to point to any impactful anti-gang measure within its text. They likewise do not reveal what, if any, national, regional, or state gang investigators association was consulted as the First Step Act was developed and pushed.

Additionally, First Step Act proponents do not appear to factor in the detailed gang research of Dr. Mike K. Carlie, Ph.D., who concluded, “[T]he potential impact of gang members paroled or released from prison was explored. Research has shown that their impact is basically negative – leading to more, not less, gang activity.” Reports on other academic research showing that youth gang membership might actually triple federal estimates are also not referenced by First Step Act advocates.