Second Look Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8549 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8549 To enable incarcerated persons to petition a Federal court for a second look at sentences longer than 10 years, where the person is not a danger to the safety of any person or the community and has shown they are ready for reentry, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 28, 2026 Ms. Kamlager-Dove (for herself, Mrs. McIver, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Simon, Mr. Cohen, and Mr. Thanedar) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To enable incarcerated persons to petition a Federal court for a second look at sentences longer than 10 years, where the person is not a danger to the safety of any person or the community and has shown they are ready for reentry, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Second Look Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. (a) Findings Related to the United States Criminal Justice System.--Congress finds the following: (1) Although the United States has less than 5 percent of the world's population, the United States holds approximately 19 percent of the world's incarcerated population and has one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world, with more than 1,800,000 people incarcerated in State and Federal prisons and local jails. (2) The jail and prison population of the United States has increased by more than 500 percent over a 40-year period preceding the date of enactment of this Act. (3) The United States incarcerates citizens of the United States at 3 to 8 times the ra