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In recent discussions on criminal justice reform, attention has shifted from sentencing laws to what happens after prison. The federal supervised release system, originally intended to help people transition successfully back into the community, has become a major point of debate among policymakers, researchers, and reform advocates.Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich recently wrote in a Fox News commentary that improving how the United States manages supervision after incarceration could be “the next frontier in criminal justice reform.” His statement aligns with recent reports from the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC), which show that the number of individuals on federal supervised release continues to grow each year.In fiscal year 2024, more than 90 percent of individuals sentenced to federal prison also received a term of supervised release, according to the USSC’s most recent QuickFacts report. That figure has risen by nearly 11 percentage points since 2020, suggesting that supervision is now one of the largest components of the federal correctional system.

When Congress passed the First Step Act in 2018, it marked a bipartisan effort to reform the federal criminal justice system by promoting rehabilitation and reducing recidivism. A key feature of the law was the creation of a new system of “earned time credits.” Under this system, eligible federal inmates can earn ten to fifteen days of credit for every thirty days of successful participation in approved educational or vocational programs. Once an inmate accrues enough credits, those credits must be applied toward either prerelease custody, such as a halfway house or home confinement, or early transfer to supervised release.