House Passes Criminal Justice Reform

Congress just passed the Criminal Justice Reform Bill known as the #FirstStepAct. Congratulations! This is a great bi-partisan achievement for everybody. When both parties work together we can keep our Country safer. A wonderful thing for the U.S.A.!!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2018

Criminal justice reform is a done deal.

It now goes to President Trump for his signature. He was boasting about it this morning.

“Congress approved a sweeping bipartisan criminal justice reform bill on Thursday, handing President Trump a major legislative victory on an issue championed by his White House.

The House approved the bill 358-36, sending it to Trump’s desk for his signature. The legislation was approved earlier this week by the Senate, 87-12. The passage marks a win for Trump as well as his senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who advocated for the bill in the face of conservative resistance.

The First Step Act would give federal judges more leeway when sentencing some drug offenders and boost prisoner rehabilitation efforts. It also would reduce life sentences for some drug offenders with three convictions, or “three strikes,” to 25 years. Another provision would allow about 2,600 federal prisoners sentenced for crack cocaine offenses before August 2010 the opportunity to petition for a reduced penalty. …”

This was the worst news of the day.

It has been a big new day. We have a lot of ground to cover.