The RAISE Act is a federal law that changes how young people are treated in the criminal justice system. It applies to anyone who committed a crime when they were 21 or younger, even if they're older now. The law gives judges more flexibility when sentencing these young offenders—they can now go below mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent crimes, reduce prison time after someone has served 20 years, and treat life sentences as optional rather than required.

The law also requires the federal prison system to create separate facilities just for young people, keeping them away from adult inmates, and to offer education, job training, mental health support, and help preparing for life after prison. On the release side, young people who have completed at least half their sentence and meet certain requirements can get out early. The law also allows judges to keep people on home confinement longer instead of in prison, limits how much extra prison time someone can get for breaking probation rules, and creates pilot programs that offer alternatives like mentorship, community service, and animal care work instead of prison for certain high-risk or vulnerable young people.

Basically, this law recognizes that young people's brains are still developing and that they deserve a chance to turn their lives around. It shifts the focus from just locking them up to helping them rehabilitate and successfully rejoin their communities.

RAISE Act of 2023

Jackson Lee, Sheila

Reforming Alternatives to Incarceration and Sentencing to Establish a Better Path for Youth Act of 2023 or the RAISE Act of 2023 This bill modifies requirements and procedures related to the sentencing, confinement, and release of youth who are involved in the federal criminal justice system. The term youth means an individual who is prosecuted or sentenced for a criminal offense committed at age 21 or younger. The bill modifies federal sentencing options for youth, including by allowing courts <ul> <li>to depart from the statutory mandatory minimum for certain nonviolent offenses, </li> <li>to reduce the prison term of a youth who has completed 20 years of the sentence, and </li> <li>to treat as discretionary a sentence of imprisonment for life. </li> </ul> Additionally, it requires the Bureau of Prisons to separately designate youth correctional facilities, minimize contact between youth and other offenders, and establish programs regarding youth education, skills training, reentry, and mental and emotional health. Finally, the bill promotes reentry and reintegration into the community, including by <ul> <li>providing an early release option for youth offenders who complete one half or more of their prison term and meet certain criteria; </li> <li>authorizing home confinement for a longer period of time; </li> <li>limiting the maximum prison term for technical violations of probation; </li> <li>establishing pilot programs for mentorship, government service, and animal service; and </li> <li>establishing pilot programs for diversion of high-risk, victimized, and primary caretaker youth. </li> </ul>