I bet Trump is anxious to do anything he can to get mandatory sentencing reduced - since he is square in the sights for some "mandatory sentencing" here soon himself. You always have to look at him and think "What's in it for HIM?" when you try to analyze anything Trump does. Because it's all about him, believe me. He never does anything out of the goodness of his hard little heart. He reminds me of the Grinch, except he's here all year long, not just at Christmas time, trying to take the joy out of life in America.
2
It is, for me, a conundrum. On the one hand, should a non-violent low level street dealer be sentenced to years? But it is the demand for the stuff he peddles that supports some of the most violent and certainly most widespread activities of murderous gangs.
So that dealer may be poor, desperate, turned to dealing for lack of other income. But staying in school, working towards a crime-free life, was an option that, I expect, was rejected, for a variety of sovail reasons/causes, that need not be detailed here.
Again, spending moneys to keep him off the street for years when the moneys could be spent on a possibly (but, I accept, unlikely) successful rehabilitation . . .
It is not an easy choice.
1
Minor typo: "social" reasons, not "sovial".
Hope people remember that back in the '90s, it was Hillary and POTUS husband, Bill that supported and pushed the sadistic legislation that has destroyed many lives over the past generations.
Remember that. Especially if she decides to inflict herself upon the electorate again in 2020.
This is all well and good but it would be much better for us if we started thinking about how to keep criminals from becoming criminals in the first place. I think we need classes in elementary school about how to be happy. How we think, how angry and defensive we get, how we don't forgive, how we take things personally, how we hold on to grudges and want to "get even," how we don't apologize when we're wrong, how we miss the goodness in other people, how we insist on being right: these are just some of the issues that advance unhappy kids with no real self-esteem to prison inmates. There is so much more......
3
So far my only reservations about the bill are its failure to make retroactive its lighter sentencing provisions (except for the crack cocaine convictions being rolled back), and the fact that this is a federal bill, and it is not clear how, if at all, this would affect sentencing at the state level, which is where most criminal prosecutions take place.
I also wonder if there was any substance to Trump's comments on the "Clinton crime bill" and its supposed effect on African-American convicts.
And I emphasize that preparing convicts for successfully living life after release, and humane, safe treatment while incarcerated, must be a paramount focus of prison time.
2
playing to his base - probably because a good number of them were, are, will be in need of this.
Aside from trump's own devious and corrupt reasons, it's a good package especially for the so many POC who will rightfully benefit.
@washingtonmink...Whose base is being played? Progressives are advocating restoring full civil rights to all ex-felons denied voting rights. As you will recall, Florida Democrats were ecstatic over the potential of more than a million ex-cons being re-enfranchised. Presumably to add to the Blue Wave sweeping the US. Whose base?
At least on the surface; the First Step Act appears to be a rare victory of common sense over blind political propaganda that has poisoned the well of political compromise for so long now. I will resist the temptation to point fingers in the hope that this might be a tiny first step (pardon the pun) in actually doing something/anything that makes sense. For decades now the "law and order crowd" basically adopted a lock them up and throw away the key. Any thought of rehabilitation or redemption was not even an afterthought. The result; massive incarceration mostly of African-Americans; and huge cost to taxpayers. The problem of course is the fanatics within the G.O.P. who will never agree to such a bipartisan solution. At some point Trump would have to do the unthinkable; break with his fanatical base. What are the odds on that? ZERO!
2
"But we're treating people differently for different crimes."
Um, is that a bad thing?
It's ironic that he still sounds like an idiot even when he's trying to support something that is generally a good thing.
2
Ah, Plan B for when the self-pardon trick runs afoul of the courts.
4
5-4-3-2-1...... oops changed his mind, again
I understand the cynicism present in many of the responses (I share it), however, this may be a moment to send messages of support to both parties as well as the White House and say, we want this thing done.
It is sad that it takes economic realities to finally inch closer to doing the right thing. However, I would rather see more spent on rehab and education than on prison construction.
It may well be that the incarcerated are suddenly being viewed as a labor pool that is being wasted. While I hate this reduction of human beings to such utilitarian value, in this case in may result in more humane and constructive action than the misdirected and disastrous results of "tough on crime" strategies.
8
This proposal has all the hallmarks of healthy bipartisanship and positive reform for imprisoned misdemeanor offenders, and for programs to fight recidivism.
Yet it's being rushed through the legislature without Congressmembers having the time to read it. No budget has been presented.
Then there is the question of private prisons, who house many of America's criminals. They are not lobbying against this bill, when, in theory, they would stand to lose a lot of revenue.
Perhaps Trump, et al, are going to reduce the Federal prison budget by transitioning to all private prisons.
They cost the government more, their results are as bad as government prisons, but, Trump can say he reduced government spending on Federal prisons. Funds will instead be coming out of another part of the budget -- taxpayers will pay more for them.
This proposal is a t u for Trump. He has used racism to motivate his base and get elected, so his sudden concern about people of color is not in synch with his rhetoric. That government funds may go to private prisons aligns with the Republican agenda that favors privatization.
2
Some people here seem to think this has something to do with trump actually caring about reform. He doesn't. If Dems had not taken the House this bill would go absolutely nowhere. This is trump at a disadvantage. He no longer holds all the cards. It will be interesting to see how low he will go while praying the Dems never refer his personal finances to the courts.
3
In general, these sound like good proposals.
However, those who are opposed to the idea of female inmates being shackled during delivery should know that taking an inmate out of the secure confines of the prison is one of the most dangerous assignments staff can take. Each hospital trip could be an escape attempt ... and delivering a baby is a pretty predictable trip to the hospital, allowing for lots of advance planning.
It's not necessarily the inmate herself who is a threat, but those who might attempt to come for her.
Besides, inmates are routinely in restraints during all types of medical procedures ... even surgeries where they are unconscious. Why should labor be any different?
Please think of this from the prison and hospital staff's point of view.
1
Trump:....on recidivism.....looks like the Pot (Trump) is calling
the Kettle (all like him/liars and con artists)...Black..
or...I guess 'it takes one to know one'...
Criminality....that IS a subject and idea that Trump can own.
Am I reading this with accuracy? Seems the POTUS is favorable to a bill that would restructure current sentencing guidelines considered harsh by some lawmakers. Also, the bill would provide incentives in the form of programs to inmates intended to reduce recidivism. To a member of "the base", this sounds eerily like the soft-on-crime initiative that we were promised would not be the case. What has happened to "lock 'em up"? Could it be that the POTUS is playing a political game now that some GOP pols saw their lustre fade in the mid-terms and is doing some burnishing? I gotta tell ya, I am less sure everyday that I could vote for this guy a second time.
5
The sheer irony of these comments by Trump haters. Trump has supported sentencing reform since he was a candidate while most members of both parties hid in their foxholes.
1
"The president was initially noncommital but later offered a firmer yes, according to administration and congressional officials briefed on the meeting."
Could it be that Trump is thinking ... and wanting to be seen thinking. Or is he concerned about his own fate one day?
1
And what is the justification for not making the reforms retroactive?
2
LOL... This stuff is getting better and better!
Now that the possibility of future prison sentences for treason and collusion with Russia looms over the empty heads of Comrade Trump and that of his clueless son-in-law AND fellow traitor Jared Kushner, these two clowns now want to lessen the severity of prison-sentences by actually loosening the guidelines.
How predictable they are!
If it were not so sad, it would actually be funny!
2
I can imagine the right-wing media hysteria if Obama came up with this. How he wants to flood the streets with criminals who will steal old ladies's social security money.
2
POTUS is pragmatic and compassionate. This is another promise kept.
1
We’ll see what race or ethnicity will benefit from this wonderful gesture of Trump and Jared kindness.
1
In order to clarify understanding of this issue, it would be useful to provide the connections between corporately run private entities managing prison complexes and those who are in a position to make decisions regarding laws which dictate population in those same prisons.
I'm highly amused by all the "Trump did it where Obama failed" comments in this section. I applaud the measure too, and I hope it reverses the stupidity of many of our incarceration laws. But one must remember that Trump did this with bipartisan support from both parties, AS IT SHOULD BE, whereas Obama was constantly blocked by Mitch McConnell at every turn. If anything, we need to realize the damage McConnell has done to this country, and remove him from the Senate! We vote representatives in to improve the lives of the people, and he has done none of that.
8
Heck, who saw this coming?? The sentencing guidelines have taken on a life of their own, shackling judges and rewarding aggressive prosecution of the the criminally-accused least able to defend themselves. This sudden piece of proposed new legislation could change the culture of criminal sentencing by eliminating the perverse rules and incentives that have turned it into yet another competitive sport. Bravo.
2
Regarding the "reform plan"—
I wouldn't trust anything Trump says, and I do mean ANY THING.
[And isn't that a said state of affairs for a purported "commander-in-chief" who supposedly can call fellow Americans to lay down their lives for their country.]
4
Well stop my heart. Of course, the usual cynicism and disbelief from the hate-Trump gallery. Commentators range from “this is proof of the random infinite monkey theorem” to “he’s faking,” “he’s caving,” to “he’s loosening sentences in anticipation for his own stay in prison.” Someday, somewhere, some Democrat besides myself will say he’s actually done something good.
1
Trump "endorsing" is not news. When a bill passes and he signs it, that will be news.
The man is a compulsive liar lacking in any human empathy.
4
Is trump easing sentencing and prison laws ahead of his own sentencing and prison time? If not, Republicans would be outraged that one of their own is going easy on criminals. Can Dems run a Willie Horton style ad based on trump's latest moves for 2020?
Aside from the fact that trump needs to be locked up, this is a good move for the country - for a change - to bring a little humanity and common sense to sentencing and prison rules.
3
We desperately need sentencing reform, but what an odd vessel to deliver it in.
1
The system wants us all. Reality not a deterrent. Trump should be congratulated on this. Good people have been getting locked away for the rest of their lives, and if it wasn't for new testing technology for evidence there'd be more dead good people too. We can do better than mandatory throwing away people as some kind of solution to most crimes. And I imagine it's horribly expensive.
1
Dear potentially recalcitrant Dem legislators,
By all means, fight for more! I will support you. But in the end, please don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Reducing a mandatory minimum now sets the stage for making the reduction retroactive next time around. Help whoever you can now, and then help more people later, too.
If Donald Trump wants to do something good for the first time in his life, let’s help get him there, and then let’s all help him feel good about it afterward. I don’t have high hopes for positive reinforcement having a great effect on the guy, but it’s still worth trying.
Good luck. Do the right thing!
Cheers,
One Constituent
2
“Criminal justice has gone from being the ultimate wedge issue to the most meaningful area of bipartisan agreement,”
And all it took was for several decades of a failed war on drugs and for an opiate crisis to hit predominantly white rural areas. When drug epidemics affected urban, mostly minority populations, the answer always was prison, prison, and more prison.
This is welcome and overdue, but sadly more evidence that for American society to take a problem seriously it has to affect its white population. If voters in Trump’s heavily rural, white base didn’t have relatives or neighbors with drug problems, wouldn’t Republicans still be arguing for ever longer prison sentences like they had for decades?
5
For those who oppose prison sentencing reform, not to worry. Somebody else will get to bend the president's ear and change his mind. The tactical key is to be the last person speaking into the president's earpiece before a decision is made, if a decision is made at all. these days, President Trump is very, very angry and here's he's not hearing much of anything from anybody.
4
I didn’t vote for Trump and have had a difficult time even tolerating his crude behavior . But he just won with me when he endorsed this sensible compassionate change .
This does very little in terms of actually addressing issues of "crime" or "recidivism." Let's start with the epidemic of poverty, immiseration, and precarity. Let's look at generations of spiraling downward wages and growing disparity of wealth and opportunity. And certainly not the secondary and tertiary effects of having a criminal record (difficulty if not impossibility for finding housing, loans for education, voting rights, etc.)--you pay your price to society by being incarcerated, and then you keep paying by never being allowed back into society. The carceral system is a metaphor for where we are, who we are, and while this "reform" is welcome, it is far, far from enough.
23
@James Well, thanks for the vocab treats. Eruditical for sure.
1
Let's not kid ourselves. Trump and Kushner are not doing this for compassionate reasons.
It's likely a chess move that may end up benefitting Trump's children by giving them a second chance after they are indicted, convicted, and incarcerated.
12
And whose brilliant idea was to introduce and pass the misguided (if not cruel and quite barbaric) three strikes law? California lead. Under what administration did it become federal? I vaguely remember Clinton signing that bill. Democrats went for it. Can we get some history and context in this article? Is it that now when the opiate drug crisis is affecting so many white communities that politicians decide to backpedal on it? USA is the country with the highest rate of incarceration in the first world and much of the third. A banana republic in that regard.
3
Get rid of for-profit prisons and the corporations raking in money to manage them.
16
Why do they keep yoyoing around from issue to issue. They try immigration, get into controversy, then jump to sentencing etc etc. won’t be long before it gets messy, and it’s shelved.
They need to focus on the bigger humanitarian problem now. It is immigration.
Immigration doeant affect the Trump family personally, now that Melania's family has gotten their citizenship. But prison sentencing is likely to have a big impact on the majority of the Trump relations and their friends and supporters in the future. So they want to reform the system so it will benefit themselves.
6
If Trump supports anything, no matter how good it is for everyone, even some Republicans, it is the duty of all Democrats to protest and oppose it.
2
This is too big of an issue that adversely impacts too many people for Democrats to oppose it strictly on a partisan basis. Too many family members of their own voters are effected by this issue. Now if you want to say they should oppose it if it only helps white color criminals, that is another issue.
1
I will believe it when I see it! Trump is so fickle and unprincipled that nothing he says can be trusted. We went through this with him with gun control. After the Parkland he convened a meeting with lawmakers to discuss the issue, Diane Feinstein sitting right next to him. Much of what he said was surprised people and music to the ears of gun control advocates. He asked why everybody was so afraid of the NRA. The next day, a representative of the NRA bent his ear after which he backtracked on his previously stated support for gun control, denied he said some of the things he said, and in the end did nothing.
12
This would be a very small step in the right direction. Considering the current toxic political climate, any bipartisan prison reform effort should be embraced.
4
Here is the problem as I see it:
The Koch Brothers support this legislation.
Why?
Disempowerment of LABOR.
Let the private sector abuse them--why should government have all the fun?
This legislation will be abused to the max by the likes of the Koch Brothers.
Who needs prison for abuse when you can have the private sector?
One must wonder what the likes of CCA thinks of this initiative...
Michael Bain
Glorieta, New Mexico
3
All these articles and pundits miss the point. The reason we need reform is because it’s cruel to shut people away, ruin their lives, make them suicidal over something as trivial as recreational drug use. A lack of compassion is the problem with our “justice” system, full stop. We turn normal people into hardened criminals with hatred in their hearts, and their hatred is completely justified.
8
It's difficult to believe that a man who uses racism to stimulate his base and gain votes actually cares about what happens to incarcerated African Americans. Following his usual script, Trump should be saying, "The fewer people of color on the streets, the better."
The rationale of spending less on incarcerations doesn't exactly wash, either, given that the U.S. has long-standing contracts with private prisons. They cost far more in taxpayer dollars that State and Federal prisons, yet, Republicans always prefer privatization, even if it costs more. The results, high recidivism, are the same for all prisons.
I wouild like to know exactly how much will be saved in the budget by this political gesture to help people of color. I would wager, if a figure exists, it's not much.
This plan is the right and ethical thing to do, in terms of helping ex-prisoners turn their lives around and releasing people who were jailed for minor offences.
But Trump doesn't do "right and ethical" and he's a huge deficit spender. I can only think this push is a cynical play to try and soften Democratic voters toward him with a touch of bipartisanship and maybe win a few African American votes.
18
@Lilou
sentencing unfairly targets AAs. However, this is clearly a ploy ti garner votes.
2
Limou I hear you, but you’d likely want this bill to pass if someone in your family were among the incarcerated. Let’s not make perfect the enemy of good. If we reflexively denounce everything Trump does, we’re acting like hyper-partisan Republicans.
8
@Patrick Gleeson
“Let’s not make perfect the enemy of good”......
Precisely.
...Tho it’s almost comical how even the rare objective, sensible comment among the NY Times’ monolithic, zombie-like progressive readership must always include a gratuitous jab at Republicans—blithely ignoring that “making the perfect the enemy of good” is practically embedded in Left/Liberal/Progressive DNA (as illustrated by all the complaining comments here)—
—if Trump personally built a house for every single homeless family in the US,
progressives would complain that...
A. He clearly has some ulterior motive, so moving into one of those houses would be helping Trump;
B. Why didn’t he use Kohler fixtures?
and
C. What about the Palestinians?!
3
If Trump is backing this bill, how is it any good to anyone except Trump himself? He must have a vested interest in privatizing prisons, yet this bill may do something to empty those same prisons. But wait, the "opportunities to provide rehabilitation" to those prisoners has just opened up a new revenue stream for private prison owners. If you thought it was expensive to incarcerate before, just wait until you see the price of these prison / pretend rehab centres!
4
I for one, will believe his support is genuine when the bill hits his desk and he signs it. Until then he'll be pressured by his "base" and he'll likely rethink it in light of his 2020 bid for reelection.
2
Two items to consider:
First, Trump has agreed to bi-partisan deals in the past, only to renege after he has changed the focus of his base. Examples: ACA and DACA.
Second, and most important, Trump has fired Sessions and needs a cover story to obscure the real reason for the firing - Sessions' continuing refusal to fire Mueller. By Trump's endorsing this prison reform bill, a bill Sessions was against since his days in the senate, Trump will now claim that prison reform was the reason session must go.
With Trump, it is always simple to determine his motivation. . .self enrichment and self preservation.
11
What has happened to our Republic first, everything else second? It seems that our political parties have forgotten that adage. No matter what it's still: Where's mine?
1
In considering the wisdom of this measure, it is important to recognize the effect of the release of large numbers of felons to the communities where they will be relocated. That is a matter easily ignored by Trump and his Republican following. By contrast, it is, at best, a mixed blessing for the poor neighborhoods where the released felons will congregate.
1
With this bill just been endorsed by Trump to overhaul the prison sentencing is a clear message not only to African Americans but to his former campaign aides who are waiting sentencing but those who are already serving time.
5
Release all prisoners who are in jail for any marijuana charge less then $ 1,000,000 . Marijuana is legal in many states. Set up drug clinics where addicts can go , collect data, and help them get off of drug addiction. We are spending money on drug addicts in prison instead of having them go to drug clinics and reform. The way to eliminate illegal drug gangs is to make addicts have legal access to the drugs they are addicted to. They would not have to purchase drugs, or go to jail but would revive drug treatment for free . Prison costs would collapse.
7
I think you overestimate the number of people serving prison time for marijuana. Also drug treatment sentences don’t really work. If you look at 3 year recidivism rates for re-arrest it’s about even with non treatment. They have to figure something out in between lock them up and throw away the key and ignoring recidivism.
Does Trump seem to "cave" on many issues! Who is the "shadow president"? Maybe it's Mitch McConnell! He seems to have the last word on many issues.
3
Great point. Or maybe it’s Kanye west. Or how about Barron trump. Or the homeless guy who lives on my block. Mindless speculation knows no bounds.
1
So the Obama administration worked with Dems and Republicans on a bill, and the GOP scuttled it. Then Trump comes along and "toughens" it to get more GOP support (and still can't do that) but wants to pass it now, after a humiliation at the polls, ASAP, to score a publicity hit with African Americans who are, what, gullible? Let the new Congress take it up.
5
Finally, a President who sees how costly and brutal “ justice” can be for non-violent offenders. Not all, but some who deserve supervised freedom. He is doing as Obama tried, and failed, to do, doing the right thing!
10
Easing prison stays is not reform. It is a triumph of form over substance.
With 5% of humanity the 2.3 million Americans are 25% of the world's prisoners. And while only 13.3 % of Americans are black like Ben Carson about 40% of the massively incarcerated are black. Because blacks are persecuted for acting like white people do without any criminal justice consequences.
Prison should be reserved for organized and career criminals. Along with the violent and incorrigible who do the most socioeconomic political educational damage to our interests and values. Regardless of color aka race aka ethnicity, socioeconomics, education and politics. Everyone else should be given a second chance with opportunities via effective policies to rehabilitate and reduce recidivism.
The goal should be to reduce the numbers of human beings going to prison in the first place. The correlation between poverty, unemployment, lack of education. broken families and color aka race aka ethnicity is a chain that needs to be broken. Prison is the carefully carved colored exception to the 13th Amendments abolition of slavery and involuntary servitude.
See " The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and The Making of American Capitalism" Edward Baptist; " The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness" Michelle Alexander
6
Could be useful to the president and the law makers in the future.
2
@Kodali never ceases to amaze me how folks push push push for something on criminial justice reform and voila it happens and then suddenly it’s considered ill intended since it was trump who made it happen and not anyone else. It’s quite telling how derangement has blinded people from accepting a gift they’ve been asking for from their leaders for decades...
2
At last. Proof of the “infinite monkey theorem” which says that an infinite number of monkeys hitting random typewriter keys for an infinite amount of time will end up writing Hamlet...or something like that. So Trump finally hits some right keys and supports some decent legislation. It won’t happen again for an infinite amount of time.
8
This bill only impacts 200,000 in Federal prisons. It does nothing for the 2.2 million in State prisons and local jails. The feds have no justification over those 2.2 million.
9
There is no justification in not letting prisoners vote. Conviction doesn't deprive them of citizenship and all citizens have a right to vote because this is a constitutional democracy. From an interest point of view, prisoners have a right to participate in our democracy to further their interests, including their interests as prisoners. It is nonsense to celebrate giving them back what has been theirs from the start.
12
Sorry, but you are wrong! A convict loses all rights and privileges until such time as they work their way back into society as productive citizens..That simple.
2
@Moe
FLORIDA just voted TO RESTORE voting rights to 1.4 million former felons.
1
Remember how Trump seemed supportive of reasonable gun control after Las Vegas until the NRA got him to change his tune. Expect the same thing to happen here after the lobbying group for privatizing the penal system gets to Trump. They want more prisoners, not less.
17
The cabinet member most involved in sentencing decisions is the Attorney General. So let's reform sentencing laws when there is no Attorney General in office, following the lead of Jared Kushner, who has no background in criminal law. You might conclude that this makes no sense whatever. In fact, how could you conclude anything else?
5
I'd be glad to have it, but it's a weak version of sentencing reform that will block any stronger measures in the foreseeable future.
8
We must reduce penalties for obstruction of justice. That I can tell you.
1
I’m suspicious of what has become a typical bait & switch on Trump’s part.
We are probably being lured into thinking he can be rational and bipartisan. Anybody remember the DACA and immigration bills he agreed to cooperate with Dems? I can’t hear you!?
5
This is great, but a little rich after all the soft-on-crime accusations Trump threw on Democrats during the midterms.
6
Trump should open all the jails and borders and let the new Democrat controlled House feast on their own glory.
3
What is in this for Trump?. He sure does not give hoot about black and brown Americans.
9
@RB
He probably thinks the newly eligible 1.5 million ex-cons can retroactively vote in FLA.
4
@RB how can you say that when his focus is on better trade, closing borders trying to stop cheap labor, improving inner cities with a focus on jobs and school choice. All of these policies help people of color more so than anything else? Help me understand.
1
Will this be called the "Jared Kushner's daddy bill"? Forgive the cynicism but it is a lot to swallow there is no ulterior motive behind this. I have a suspicion there is a lot of leniency for white-collar crime in this bill.
19
I applaud thosee people from all parties who support this. It's about time.
12
Confiscate hard drugs and release the perp. Attack the economics of the cocaine and heroin biz. If people don't go to jail the risk is lowered, the price is lowered they can't make money. Filling our prisons with drug offenders was started by the Reagan's not Clinton and it has failed miserably.
15
Convicted felons belong in prison with real terms of incarceration.. with or without Donald Trump. It is supposed to be hard, harsh: it's prison! Inmates can self actualize themselves after they're released.
1
Why the sudden change of conscience? From tough of criminals, lock them up, criticizing others for being too lenient, sending troops to the boarder, no get out of jai free card?
Now this new way of thinking. stick to a plan, albeit a fair plan
2
Why jail non violent, minor drug offenders?
Some European nations have decriminalised drug use. The sky did not fall in. Drug use did not increase.
One major benefit of decriminalising drug use, is it would stop the flow of money to criminal gangs and drug cartels.
It costs a lot more money to imprison someone for a drug offence, than look at their drug use as a health issue.
Better resourced drug rehabilitation schemes would also be a better use of scarce government revenue.
Surely drug laws should be more concerned with rehabilitation than ounishment?
Is treason one of the crimes he lowered the mandatory sentencing for? That would make sense.
12
so he's not always wrong after all
6
We may have Ambassadors Kanye and Kim to thank. Maybe we should send in The Rock to speak about Education, Taylor Swift for immigration issues, and Lil Jon for more NASA funding.
11
I've worked in prison with men incarcerated for drug-related crimes & managed & provided services at an SA day program for women.
My comments: What we're currently doing is not working. It's a revolving door. A waste of money, effort & human life. Money must be used for SA recovery and MH treatment in prison, but it's essential community-based rehab & MH treatment also be available.
Bureau of Correction administrators & the correctional officers unions need to be on board with prioritizing this not by word only, but through serious hiring & training efforts.
Trump & GOP Congressional leadership are hoping this attracts low-income & minority voters, most impacted by these changes, but hopefully everyone remains aware that Dems have been pushing this & aren't 'played'.
11
My real problem is that ... I think Bush did things well, Obama made mistakes, and Trump made good promises.
But ... this ranks right up there with the best infrastructure plan ever, repeal and replace, solve crimes in the cities and get the best schools and jobs, Kim is great, ....
We shall see .....
It is sad that the President has made me so skeptical of him.
@jhanzel one may find the answers he’s looking for without rose colored glasses. It’s evident is trying to fix problems politicians love to run on every election cycle yet do not have the will or the guts to actually do anything about it.
Makes you think, once he’s done, what will the next person run on?
So 45 is FOR reform today. Given his track record, doesn’t that mean he will be AGAINST it tomorrow? Unless he is considering his own sentencing future, and he should, his word on legislative matters is about as trustworthy as his wedding vows.
7
He will backtrack on this before the week is over. By next week he will have had 5 or 6 positions on it.
7
With this country having the highest rate of incarceration in the world, if this legislation finally does something about it, it doesn’t matter who gets credit for it, it is simply the right thing to do.
5
Long overdue. And yes this was a bipartisan action. Congrats and thank you to all involved.
Immigration is next. Please put away the talking points and get it done!
This is actually promising.
10
amazing. the Kushner effect telling Papa's story. the white collar criminals must be salivating, e.g., go light on what? let's see, how 'bout tax fraud, FERC offenses, Foreign Agent Registration Act? anyone? anyone?)
5
It would be a good thing if this legislation were passed, and then signed by the president. Given his history on DACA, and gun control after Parkland, though, we will have to wait and see if he caves to the slightest pressure from the right, as he did on these issues, or if he starts to respond to the midterm election results and tries to meet the needs of more voters than his diehard base. We can only hope that it's the latter -
6
Thank goodness. This is a key and critical change. The harsh sentencing guidelines took away Judge's discretion and wisdom, reduced sentencing to firm guidelines. This gave prosecutors tremendous power to get plea bargains, holding the threat of harsh sentences over the heads of those accused.
Now, let power return to the Judiciary from the prosecutors. Thank goodness.
7
This bill is a trap and the D's may just walk into it with eyes wide shut.
I will bet this rushed bill will contain language on the border wall, immigration, naturalization, or the environment/fossil fuels that the D's cannot allow to pass in the lame duck.
Then mister tiny-handed P-grabber will take to twitter and initiate another of his tirades and call the D's racist and phony about their interest in making sure people of color are treated as equals.
hide and watch folks twitter storm coming in less than a week.
8
I'm not surprised he's softening his views on criminal punishments. It could be him someday.
14
I'll believe it when I see it. Bipartisan support or no, this presidency has given us no evidence of wanting to support any mainstream legislation without partisan rhetoric dominating the scene. Do it once... Do it twice... Do it for the upteenth time...
Get it passed, and you'll have a polite golf clap from me. Not until then.
8
Never gonna happen. Conservatives want long sentences for people to fill their for profit prisons. Conservatives have dropped all white collar crime investigations ; so they themselves can get away with their white collar crimes.Trump/GOP 's word is worthless. No significant legislation will be passed till 2021 when Dems regain control. Trump will publish reams of executive orders for next 2 years. Ray Sipe
4
Trump wants to please GOP donors, like the Kochs, who want to decarcerate through private institutions. From The Nation:
The goal of correcting behavior through private capital...has settled on “community corrections” as a supposedly kinder, gentler alternative to imprisonment. A community-corrections system would engage for-profit and non-profit providers of body monitoring technology, bail firms, and drug rehab under the guise of behavioral therapy, “reentry services,” training and “structured” treatment methods.
This drive to decarcerate through private institutions envisions a more “humane,” non-custodial private infrastructure for managing criminality: “securitizing” the accused by offering bond instead of pre-trial jail, “overcoming addiction” through social control, and surveilling people after release from prison.
8
Without background check reform this is meaningless.
2
Jared Kushner was the last person to whisper in his ear but that was yesterday; today is another matter.
It must not be forgotten that Afro-Americans make up the greatest prison population—by far— according to any reputable report or study that examined the over-preponderance of black inmates—local (municipal and county); state and federal. Mitch McConnell said he wants to get this First Step Act along the legislative pipeline but how anxious do you think that he is—and other right-to-totalitarian Senators are—about easing an overcrowded prison dynamic for non-whites? The news story running alongside this item indicates that conservative
Senators are against it.
But returning to the president; do you really think he’s going to disappoint and antagonize his base by applying even the smallest, most bland salve in a festering wound that’s been a problem for scores of years?
“Trump’s on board?” I’ll believe it when I hear him say it. And I will then doubt his sincerity. He’s amply demonstrated that he is not so readily believed—about anything. And, let’s not forget, prisoners are a demographic that’s unlikely to help him out at the polls in 2020.
6
Anyone else wonder at the logic of easing up on criminals at the same time they sic the army on migrants just looking for someplace safe to raise their kids? I can see being compassionate to criminals ... but where's the compassion for the innocent?
3
Anyone else wonder why others are so concerned with foreign citizens and their rights in a foreign land called America?
They aren’t US citizens. We have our own issues like helping US citizens caught up in the Draconian punishments set forth by previous administrations including (I know you must be shocked) so called progressive and liberal.
1
Yeas especially those involving obstruction of justice, campaign finance fraud, sexual assault, bribery, insider trading, giving away classified information to a foreign country...did I miss any?
6
@Tony --good list but you forgot FARA, conflict of interest, emoluments, heck, let's add abuse of power (office) while we're at it.....
thank you Tony!
2
Yeah, with what conditions tacked onto it?
4
Florida Man will thank him with many votes, and ignition sources.
What about the millions in the caravans that he’s going to incarcerate?
1
Can we just legalize marijuana already? This would free up the police and help reduce the prison population.
9
This is not at all a Trump issue unless you make it into one. Its of high relevance to people and also one of the 10,000 bills that are alive in some form at any time. Just cause he does something that’s not blatantly stupid or wrong doesn’t make it or relevant or irrelevant. This is plain ol stuff.
2
Perhaps having Trump somewhat over a barrel will be good for the nation until he gets taken away.
He might be willing to sign off on some things just to improve his image, thinking it will keep justice at bay.
But he still has a loooong way to go to match what Nixon accomplished before he was forced to leave office.
3
I have a hard time believing that a bill supported by the Koch brothers that is being described as complicated and needs to be passed in a rush will be beneficial to the general population. I also find it hard to believe that mr. Trump would support a bill that actually helps even if mildly, what are human beings unjustly trapped in our Draconian slave prison industrial complex. But if it actually is a good bill and it actually does get signed into law then we have to give Donnie tiny hands the credit he desires.
3
This is greatly needed, but the legislation needs to be fully vetted.
4
Trump is particularly concerned with reducing the penalties for obstruction of justice.
2
Mandatory sentencing was designed to remove discretion in law. The trickle down effect has been for police to adopt zero tolerance policies on a wide range of offences. With mandatory sentencing and zero tolerance, if has been possible to massage crime statistics to make it appear that more crime is being detected and that proportionate justice will prevail - politically attractive tenets to law and order parties. However, in reality, it has snared myriad people, ordinarily borderline or circumstantial perpetrators into a hard life of arrest and penal retribution. The effect has been to burden the prison system and weigh down police departments with minor offences rather than combatting major crime, not to mention the repressive effect on society at large.
Courts and law enforcement needs discretion like society needs oxygen to breathe. It takes effort and common sense to exercise discretion, but judges and police are in a position to do a masterful job of relinquishing a death grip on the population.
I hope Trump stays the course with this.
1
I'd accept practically anything that had 60 of the more centrist senators on both sides in agreement.
1
As long doesn't try to "ease" of the sentences for obstruction of justice, election tampering, voter suppression, tax evasion, perjury to the FBI, Congress, or the Mueller investigation, and collusion with a hostile foreign power.
5
I'm sure the for-profit prison industry will be against this. One only needs to look at who takes donations from that industry, to guess how'll those senators and congressmen would vote on that issue
2
But Trump's endorsement may mean as much as his endorsement of DACA legislation, where he initially endorsed the concept only to throw in some ridiculous conditions and blew up negotiations.
4
If it’s Trump, he must be up to something. Democrats, even though you mght want to support prison sentencing reform, oppose this if it’s Trump who proposes it. Don’t give him any cooperation, and certainly don’t give him a chance to claim a political victory.
Then wait. Propose your own version, so you can claim political victory if it passes.
2
Wow. This sounds too good to believe. Even if it's a ruse, or he backs off of his support, it's the best fake news I've heard in a long time.
1
Even though I am not a Trump supporter, I applaud his decision. I also question his attractiveness to privatizing prisons and this decision is clearly not in the prison investors favor. Let's face it, we need comprehensive prison and criminal justice reform (note, that's two reforms if you're counting). We need to rethink the way we handle juveniles, the way prosecutors obtain false confessions, the disproportionate number of African, Native and Latin Americans that are mass incarcerated and or killed by the State. Wow!!! I can see us resisting the urge to separate children from their parents or families and maybe outlawing torture as a foreign policy. Don't look now, we might become a civil nation again.
1
Passage of a bill lessening the mandatory sentences given is way overdue in this nation of warehousing of prisoners. America is known worldwide for housing more prisoners per capita than most developed nations, and that should be changed. We are a better people than that and this bill should be passed forthwith!
2
Devine intervention or focused minds or softened hearts or all of the above. This is something for both parties to celebrate. Maybe, it will hold for many, many news cycles. Thank God, my previous smack on previous article was out-of-date, out-of-touch, and taken off-the-air. Hope lives for many, many people and their loved ones. Mr Kushner got this very right.
It seems to me that our Mr. Trump, seeking approval anyway he can get it, and having no ideological foundation of his own, is proving he is susceptible to anything that night boost his diminishing appeal without alienating his base. Hmmmm...I sense opportunity here.
1
Putting people in prison for possession of drugs is an insane policy.
I can't remember exactly what The First Amendment says, but I believe it protects personal freedom.
2
Arbitrary sentencing was always a terrible idea, designed for politically motivated ‘toughness’ slogans and the unusual but sensationalized ‘got off light’ cases. Criminal justice will never get things entirely right, but the lock away the key approach failed, cost taxpayers a fortune, and adds up to huge amounts of excessive sentencing.
I hope he goes ahead; to a considerable extent this approach should be sent to history’s dustbin.
2
I'm skeptical about Trump's sudden change of heart. He supports nothing that doesn't help him directly in some way. Is he worried that he or someone he knows will end up in prison?
5
This is a good first step, even if it comes from the Donald.
1
Of course he did.
He’s desperate to have headlines as his castle is starting to crumble. MY question is, will he allow bipartisan efforts? Or is he going to issue more ‘proclamations’ to shore up his image as emperor?
1
Let's start with emoluments clause violations.
3
Will leniency be for Trump and his minions too?
5
Is someone getting ready to do time?
9
He's probably thinking about his buddies, Manwfort, Cohen, and others.
5
Trump, shocking all observers, both those who oppose and support him, voices support for common sense criminal justice legislation! But what's this? A cadre of nasty racists comprised of old southern white dude Senators intervenes! "Donald!" they exclaim. "No! That makes too much sense!" Perturbed, Trump retreats to imbibe a taco salad and mutter about the Fake Media. Smoothing back the hair of his Kim Jong-Un Bratz doll, the Donald goes to sleep on his vast golden poster bed. His dreams are troubled by the tearful faces of brown children. He wakes miserable and alone, picks up his phone, and opens the Twitter app, sausagelike index finger jabbing impatiently.
3
Trump's been playing the electorate for the last 2 years.
It's time to stop and be a real "POTUSA"
Those Americans who believe that the white population is somehow disadvantaged in current environment should stop and consider that, while the abuse of crack cocaine in the black community has been considered a criminal justice issue for decades, the current abuse of opiods in the white community is considered a medical issue.
Why is that?
116
@curious
Two words: Big Pharma.
8
@ubique
Do you never read about racism in this country?
Big Pharma may be guilty of a lot of stuff, but this invidious imbalance in classification, arrests and jail sentencing has deeper systemic roots that you are suggesting.
7
@Joan Bee
Heroin was trademarked by racism? An apple a day...
2
Somehow (after the extremely mixed results of your midterm elections) I think most Republican legislators are going to do whatever they feel they need to do in order to insure their own re-election bids without regard as to whether Trump supports (or will sign into law) their efforts. Trump has proven to have very short ‘half-life’.
2
NYT suckered again. We all must know by now that this "offer" is a lie/strategy. Falsehood is all he is capable of. Don't publish until the offer is pinned down.
13
@James Byerly
NY Times like to print everything Trump says as the truth, then deny it in the last line. For journalistic credibility, of course.
3
Hmmmmm...
3
White, religious conservatives will demand Trump keep the dark skinned people behind bars.. and Trump will cave.
17
Would this extend to bad hombres?
5
@Kathy McAdam Hahnlo
Like the folks already indicted via the Mueller investigation?
1
Everything has to be done in a rush which makes me suspicious. If it truly improves our current system, perhaps it's a first step in what needs to be an extensive overhaul.
8
@Marylee: has anything he's ever done
truly improved the system yet?
[excepting the tax cut for the top 10 or 12.]
1
@Marylee I just think we're need to read the fine print REALLY carefully. What is he/ they really trying to push through?? Funds for the Wall? Language on immigration, or goodies for big oil? Campaign finance laws?
We need to tread very carefully!
He's probably just angling for milder penalties when it's his turn on the docket.
83
I was wondering how a NYT reader could turn the story negative. Funny comment though.
4
@ScaredStiff Actually, my read is that what he is 'saying' is an improvement. If it gets through to his desk, I will give him applause. What are the odds? Low. Why? Because the GOP is the party of White People who are at least marginally racist and can not support making something better for Black people. Just saying. We'll see.
2
@Phillip Usher: my first thought, too.
2
Jared has nothing to do with this - trump is just using this as a way to legitimize him in the public eye.
11
From a cynical perspective, it’s not very difficult to see how this sort of politicking might ultimately be related to clearing prison cells for the “real” criminals, while shifting the overall view of addiction so that it is understood to be a permanent medical disorder.
Thankfully, as we’re all aware, the Republican Party only knows the good type of faith.
1
Let's not be blinded by his sudden interest for some of the jail population kept there for petty crimes. I do not have any faith in an administration that puts children in detention centers or refuses to grant asylum to immigrants escaping war and persecution in their countries.
It is clearly a calculated tactic to favor his future election prospects and without a shred of doubt an attempt to get the vote of African Americans. One doesn't become an altruistic person overnight. This is the perfect example of a political stratagem to try to manipulate voters. Let's not fall for it!
41
@Samira definitely calculated. Trump cares not a whit for minorities who populate our prisons and yes, he is looking for the Black vote!!
6
I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment that this is a cynical ploy to enhance Trump's re-election prospects in 2020. With that said, I disagree with your conclusion that, due to the source, the proposed legislation should be rejected off-hand.
I think a better tactic would be using delaying tactics which would move the legislation to the next session of Congress. Given that between now and and January 6, Congress will not meet more than 10 days, delaying a final vote should not be that difficult.
1
Some features of the bill "could cost support from liberal lawmakers, who want to hold out for a more expansive sentencing rewrite": Please remember that there are real people unfairly sitting in jail for lack of even this imperfect bill. Pass what you can now. Then go back for more when that's possible.
14
@jng54 The perfect is the worst enemy of the good.
4
@milkecody
The good is the worst enemy of the best. Strange as it may sound, the opposite of imperfect is not perfect, but “not imperfect”; and that is much different than perfect.
One question. Does Kanye has convinced Trump? Now we all owe him an apology for mocking him, his meeting with Trump and red MAGA hat.
3
@Ivan " Kanye... Now we all owe him an apology for mocking him, his ...red MAGA hat."
In this respect, Trump has outsmarted his opponents again, making them look like condescending elites, while he comes off as the good guy.
When people started making fun of Kanye, they should have seen this coming. I'm not a Kanye fan. My point is that progressives handled this stupidly and arrogantly -- and Trump is a master at turning this kind of thing against his opponents.
9
@Joe so you think this is all Trump's idea? Republicans have long been on board but too scared to go it alone without someone like Trump. As the article states they needed someone like Trump to give them cover. The fact that the article mentions that suggests that Republicans have long recognized the problems and wanted to do something about it. So don't talk about Trump outsmarting anyone.
1
Trump will support this, he has to watch out for his staff.
2
The politicians forcing taxpayers to spend billions incarcerating non-violent "offenders" should be held accountable. The money could be used much more productively to protect and support our society.
36
@RC: if there were a will,
there would be a way ...
remember that there's method
behind [almost] every madness.
Trump is thinking about himself and his family. He wants himself and his family to spend less time in jail.
38
Sentencing here is ridiculous and unfair. We spend billions holding people too old to commit crimes. And we reform no one.
But I have to wonder, is he also trying to reduce mandatory sentences for treason?
21
This is purely a Koch play. They must not be in the private prisons business so they just want to cut spending here. Plus a sop to the NRA to reduce gun penalties.
So here we are. If Donny somehow figures out this bill means more black people roaming free then I don’t expect him to sign. Jared must be working overtime to paper over that part.
14
This should cover both State and Federal prisons for all lives are worth saving , the State of Florida lives in a country of their own but yet the Federal Government of the United States gives them money , supplies that it to make better living for the inmates , medical, re adjustment programs , which has been taken in the state of Florida by the state of Florida . But yet they except money from my Government yet they don’t have to go by my Constitution nor the Admendments they write their own laws and admendments , and statues to cover their own wrong doings . They are not to protect no one they are there to ruin lives and make money for themselves . Every prisons In the State of Florida needs to be raided by the Government of the United States of America. And leave no dorm un accounted for and talk with inmates stop the covers up and the money schemes in that judicial system . Those are human beings not animals , even animals are protected better than they are , fed better than they are ,, get medical help better than they are,,, I pray to my God in Heaven that you add State prisons also under this new law and make Florida abide by it for like I said they change the rules as they go to fit their case . Internet sex stings aren’t protecting no one they get their victims off of adults sites not kid sites as they have lied about .check it out Craigslist . They also great on over sentencing with no win release .... go figure Florida corruption at work ,fire them all .
4
Is he going to also throw in some modificatnois to sentencing when it comes to money-laundering, conspiracy against the United States, fraud, racketeering, etc.?
17
Don't forget treason and perjury.
4
@Jbugko That would certainly help Hillary and Bill.
1
@Jbugkoz: You mean increase sentencing lengths? Half the bank executives would be in jail.
As a 83 year old, white, upper middle class woman, who enjoys a toke now and then, (now legal in Michigan,) I congratulate you for doing a most humane action. God, who may have a galaxy size pot garden growing some where in this universe, is no doubt, very pleased.
As the Lord said, "Truly I tell you, what whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you do for me."
11
Hard to imagine anything sane coming from this president. We'll see.....
7
I hope it happens.
With this President (remember how he fixed DACA with Chuck and Nancy?) I will believe it when I see the signing ceremony completed.
11
This is so minimal. The sentence reductions should be much greater and for drug crimes, the sentences abolished in favor of treatment.
12
Keeping aside social injustices which by themselves are good reasons for sentencing reforms, from even economic viewpoint it makes sense.
$30 to $40,000 to hold a prisoner per year translates to $30 to $40 billion a year if you multiply by 1 million non violent offenders. With that kind of money not only these 1 million can be rehabilitated but the opioid crisis can be better handled.
25
Watch the senators who take money from the private prisons industry. They are the ones most likely to oppose any legislation that actually lets people OUT of prison. Their sponsors don't like to use any "billable units."
21
@Ed Spivey Jr: not too long ago,
a comedian in my country gave advice
to rich folks who might find themselves in
the awkward predicament of not knowing
what to do with their big money:
"invest in the US private prison industry," he said.
"excellent prospects."
such a shame.
Hard-line sentencing in the US for drug and other offenses is a spectacular failure by any measure. Change is needed. Well done, Kushner (never thought I'd use those words) for driving this forward.
10
Trump is taking an interest in different types of prison reform now that he realizes he might end up there.
16
Suddenly sentencing laws are of importance to the trump administration. Could there be a correlation with the fact that they may soon all face imprisonment??
11
I do not necessarily disagree with this proposal, but the readers comments lose sight of the bigger issue. Life is pretty simple: do not commit a crime and you stay out of jail. I have never understood the idea of a "warning" or a second chance.... everyone knows that you are not supposed to have a gun illegally, or rob someone, or sell drugs. The criminals only found this out when they were caught? And before you ask whether or not I have ever made a mistake, the answer is yes, I have. I have gone over the speed limit a bit, I may have dropped a gum wrapper on the floor, but I have never committed a felony. Felonies, particularly violent felonies, are not mistakes. They are just that: intentional and often violent.
7
@Ny Surgeon: In the 60s under the Rockefeller drug laws in NY, you could get 30 years for possession of one cannabis "cigarette." Do those kinds of laws make any sense? We're talking about length not evading responsibility. In any event, we should be advocating treatment not prison for substance abuse.
9
@Ny Surgeon Even if you don't care about the prisonesr, In the end, locking people up like animals doesn't do any good to society.
4
@Dr Jay Seitz Some folks just don't get it even Doctors!!!
Do these changes in sentencing include time for collusion and campaign finance fraud?
11
@Jim Dennis Better ask Hillary.
2
yes and that's how hillary will get off for colluding with the dnc to influence the election by getting bernie out of the race
1
With the Mueller investigation and the democrats taking the the House, maybe he is cracking up. Trump at one time use to be democrat. His mind is mixing red and blue. He is turning a bit purple.
I'll give him credit if he can do it. This reminds me of what I've heard over and over: The punishment does not fit the crime.
I hope he can get a bi-partisan agreement.
7
It's comforting to know our President is on top of how these important policy proposals will affect his appearance and election prospects.
6
@TonyD
Is it possible for him to do anything good? Or is it automatically wrong if he supports it?
3
@TonyD.
In this day and age, I am not sure if this is sarcasm or not.
2
@Ny Surgeon No, he certainly can do something good, and supporting sentencing reform measures, as he appears to be doing, is good. But, from my sense of the article, and from my sense of him, he is not doing it because he believes in sensing reform. He's doing it because it reflects well on him and he can declare it a "win" and he might get some votes from it. He is not a man with conviction about convictions.
6
The proposed Legislative "changes that would begin to unwind some of the tough-on-crime federal policies of the 1980s and 1990s — which have incarcerated African-Americans at much higher rates than white offenders."
Wait? What?
The cognitive dissonance is shouting in my head.
The evil Koch brothers support this? The racist President Trump is on board? How could this be?
14
@TOM
In order to deal with the last several years, I learned to believe the 180 degree opposite of what they say.
Now it makes sense.
2
Trump should go for it ifhe wants to survive another 2 years....
2
I'm going out on a limb with a guess that for-profit prisons oppose this correction to our sentencing laws.
54
@Tonyp152 But with immigration crackdowns, the financial blow to the industry is cushioned.
1
Mandatory minimum sentencing is an evil injustice. Every human being charged with a crime deserves to have their case heard and, if convicted, their sentence based on the specific circumstances of their crime and situation, not on some one-size-fits-all law written by unimaginative, lazy politicians, many of whom have a financial stake in the private prison complex industry that makes more money for every person incarcerated.
19
I am an active member of Narcotics Anonymous and have learned much about social justice, bigotry and white privilege. My drugs were ‘script meds: Xanax. Ambien. I got them from my local drug pusher: my doctor. I would often drink and drive, pill-popping as I went, rounding curves, hitting sidewalks and crashing into parked cars. More than once, I blacked out entirely and wound up in the hedges of a wealthy man’s mansion. No cops were ever called. No citations ever issued. I was a wealthy white woman driving a new BMW in a ritzy neighborhood of Tampa. Had I been a young black man, driving “a beater” down a bad street in the ‘hood, I’d have long ago “copped” a charge. Or two. My African-American and Latinos friends in the program have all been charged. Arrested. Locked up. They, in effect, have “had the book thrown at them.” Orange jumpsuits and hygienic, paper slippers have been their standard garb (and more than once!), while I, a wealthy white woman, have gotten off “scot-free.” In sum, I was blessed. I was lucky. I was white. Believe it.
1
Just who are the profiteers of these alternative models? Don't banks, Wall street and various Private Equity sponsors expect a timely return on their massive investments in all those "opioid" and addiction related recovery centers that serve as alternatives to jails and private prisons? Does the legislation and taxpayer funded insurance subsidy incentive Whitaker directed police and prosecutors to route criminals to their choice Koch or Chris Christie affiliated Recovery Facility? Will lawmakers explore whether Mr. Whitaker is the ideal law enforcement officer to implement such monumental reforms or is he merely ideally connected?
2
Please note that the article is incorrect in it's statement that 2.2 million Federal prisoners will be impacts by these reforms. There are only about 180,000 Federal prisoners who could be impacted. The 2.2 million STATE and LOCAL prisoners are not effected by changes to federal crime definitions or sentencing criteria. People need to work in their states to alter sentencing and reduce mass incarceration.
7
It is clear that the oppressive laws passed in the 80s and 90s were ineffective to the point of being worthless in doing what their proponents thought they would.
Now that we are enormous costs of taking these offenses to their limit of decades of prison time, we see that we can no longer afford to support prior wrong decisions.
It's about time that we enact this, while leaving in place the removal of those much higher up on the distribution chain, and those who have no social responsibility for the damage that they promote solely for their enrichment.
32
How can anyone ever say "Trump is expected..."? He's largely ignorant, cares about nothing other than himself, and is quite comfortable saying one thing then going 180 degrees in the opposite direction in under an hour. The only thing Trump can be counted on is to not be counted on.
Remember the bipartisan immigration reform compromise that Trump unequivocally said he would support? Congress then came to Trump with exactly that and then he promptly kicked it into a ditch.
Once the private prison industry lobby get its hooks into Trump's Grinch-like micro-heart, rest assured that any notion of justice reform will similarly become DOA.
27
Yeah, but then Ainsley will make a funny face when she talks about it tomorrow on "Fox 'n Friends," and that'll sink it.
1
Why do I think that Trump is showing his kinder gentler side, such as it is, because he hopes the Dems might then be more inclined to ease up on him about his taxes, foreign business deals, etc.?
I mistrust his motives completely, but hope for a good outcome.
7
@Deb
What kinder gentler side? Have you seen something most of us have missed?
6
Well, it sounds like the Republicans are finally getting the message that they have to do something for someone else besides their rich donors. Now when do we get rid of for-profit private prisons?
29
Many for-profit prisons are contracted by States. Reducing the 2.2 million state and local prisoners requires changes in state laws. The federal reforms only impact the 200,000 Federal prisoners.
https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/population_statistics.jsp
I want to see more resources into controlling and dismantling the Opioid distributors. This is the drug that places people on the slippery slope to addiction.
1
@Scrumper, agreed. I'd also like to see our society to start thinking about and treating addiction like the disease and sickness it is. Imagine imprisoning a cancer patient for skipping a chemo appointment. Of course no one would support that. No one should support imprisoning people just for having an addiction, either.
7
@Scrumper
Why would the politicians want to cut off their donors?
The DOJ is drowning in prison costs. The move isn’t t so much about a change of heart as a budget concern. The move will be toward ankle monitors or even chips inserted into people soon enough- and the convicted will have to pay the costs out of their own pocket.
6
Trump might support revising sentencing laws unless his right wing supporters oppose those changes. Trump’s policies always go to the extreme right. If it’s not the consensus of those in the right wing media he usually doesn’t do it.
1
Trump is going to do the right thing? How out of character for him!
8
I feel certain that whatever the specifics of proposed changes are they don't go far enough. That being said, this is good news because change is so desperately needed. One point I believe is worth mentioning as much as I wish it were not the case: It is true that punishments fall disproportionately on black citizens and that is a grave injustice. However, that point is often made, like in this article, in such a way as to imply that white people are not also suffering under draconian sentencing -- which they are. As depressing as it is to have to say this, it should be clear from politics these last ten years that there is a significant portion of the population that will interpret the news that black people are disproportionately incarcerated as a good thing that should not be changed. Those same people might well see things differently if it is pointed out that a huge number of white people are also harmed by these policies. I'm sorry to have to make this comment but many people of all ethnic backgrounds are suffering and I really feel that the disproportional aspects of sentencing, while rightly pointed out, are focused on to the exclusion of all else and that the true effect of this is perhaps doing harm to the cause of reform when that is not intended by the writers.
4
A broken clock is right twice a day.
7
Last week in this comment section I had said "Marijuana is my number 1 issue but I would never vote for Trump even if he legalized... but I might vote for him if he also pardoned the 85% of the prison population that is non-violent drug offenders..."
I want to clarify because I think Kush is reading these... even if he pardons all those people who legitimately need it... I'm not voting Trump.
2
It makes perfect sentence for Trump to want to soften sentencing laws given the imminent impeachment and indictment proceedings for our Scofflaw-In-Chief.
Daycare Donnie doesn't want to spend too much time in prison.
57
@Socrates. Given the general tenor of your comments over the years I would think this would be a proposal you would support. However, it appears your case of TDS has become so severe that even when you get something you want you can’t avoid making cheap shots. Really cheap shots.
21
Might you consider that occasionally this president does something the right way - something that could be supported by a broad majority of the country?
5
Well, at least he didn’t call a black woman a raci#t for asking a reasonable question. Unlike SOME Presidents I could name.
3
This is a great step in the right direction. Of course, there is much more to be done with sentencing reform as well as the laws behind them.
All the same, I applaud the Democrats, Trump, and the other Republican supporters of this initiative for doing something that will be genuinely good for this country. Assuming it goes through, of course.
51
This is NOT a "no brainer." Federal mandatory minimums, so-called "stacking" of consecutive sentences for the use of firearms during the commission of underlying felonies and "three-strike" enhancements are how federal law enforcement has been able to dismantle notorious and violent organized criminal groups-- from the traditional Mafia to current cancers like MS-13. Think what you want about the poor who come into the local and state criminal justice systems, this so-called reform will do nothing to aid such people. It will merely deprive federal prosecutors and agents of effective tools against federal defendants who are typically the worst of the worst. This isn't progressive. This is music to the ears of a future "El Chapo" and those who might otherwise be swayed to cooperate against deadly criminal bosses and organizations. Why would we do such a thing?
19
This sounds an awful lot like propaganda that doesn't really square well with reality. If it's such a foolish move and won't actually help America's poor from getting caught up in the carceral state, then who is pushing it?
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@Gordianot This is not remotely accurate. First, the Mafia and MS-13 didn't get taken down by 924(c)'s (firearms during felonies) or 851 enhancements (three strikes and other predicate felony sentences). They got taken down by things like RICO and the ever-widening ambit of conspiracy-based prosecutions. And as far as aiding the poor, eliminating draconian mandatory minimums will precisely target people from inner city state and municipal justice systems that walk through a revolving door of petty-drug sentences only to find themselves in federal court looking at sentences radically disproportionate to their actual offense conduct. (For those unfamiliar with how this works, a street-level dealer that gets caught three times selling $20 rocks of crack and pleads to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance in state court, and who then gets arrested with a firearm (and zero drugs or any other offense) receives a mandatory 15 year sentence as an Armed Career Criminal -- all based on that $60 career.) Mandatory minimums actually do nothing to deter the "worst of the worst" (who already face draconian sentencing ranges) while preventing judges from handing out proportional sentences to defendants that aren't. Any prosecutor who can't make an incapacitation argument for a defendant that is a demonstrated danger w/o the crutch of a mandatory minimum needs to advocate somewhere else besides a courtroom.
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@Gordianot This doesn't seem right to me, but I am certainly not educated on the subject.
Isn't the mandatory minimum just a mandatory minimum? Can the judges not continue sentencing people who actually deserve it as harshly as possible to keep the public safe? Unless this reduces the maximum sentences possible - which it does not appear to do - this is something that is up to the discretion of the judge, no?
9
What this doesn't make clear, as indicated too by these comments, is that this legislation only applies to FEDERAL criminal cases -- which account for only a tiny portion of this nation's massive numbers in prison. This does absolutely NOTHING to change harsh, punitive state sentencing laws that affect millions more than this bill will.
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@Peggy you're correct. The article indicates that the federal prison pop is 2 million. That's wrong. It's about 200,000 while the remaining 1.8 million+ inmates sit in state prisons and will not be touched by these changes. The federal prison pop is actually expected to increase following years of decreases under Obama (the first decreases in decades btw) because of new prosecutorial guidelines issued by the DOJ. A number of states continue to decrease their jail and prison populations without seeing any overall increase in crime. Other states aren't doing very much at all.
8
@Peggy You are correct, but there are similar movements in many state legislatures. Draconian punishments remain more prevalent in conservative states, and pace of change can vary greatly, but there is some movement.
1
I will believe it when he signs it. trump's word means literally nothing and he can easily be swayed by whichever advisor last has his ear. If anything, expect him to back out and blame the Democrats. Just a matter of time.
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@Casey Penk thanks Casey. you stated every though i was hoping to see here in the comments section.
3
Re: "the bill would eliminate the so-called stacking regulation that makes it a federal crime to possess a firearm while committing another crime"
Stacking. That sounds like an NRA characterization if anything does.
They want stiffer penalties for the killing of a police officer, but for the rest of us, sure, go ahead BYOG to the crime. No worries. No biggie.
1
@Marie
That's the piece that bothers me
2
25 years for non violent drug crimes!?!?! SICK... that is a life sentence... NO ONE SHOULD go to jail for marijuana...PERIOD! incarceration is proven to do nothing for drug trafficking .... you can kill someone in this country... shoot up someone's property and do no time...
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@Nancy Felcetto
If it is 25 years for marijuana distribution that is terrible. If it is 25 years for heroin or fentanyl that is fair.
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@Neil James
It's 25 years for any three convictions. That's why its called Three Strikes. Brought to you by Bill Clinton, by the way.
1
Please listen to your son-in-law on this one. These laws are draconian and should be changed. Outside of doing the right thing it puts you in a better light with many people.we have the largest prison population in the world and a lot of it are drug offenders who are not big dealers in drugs. Let use some common sense and realize these long incarcerations do not work.
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This is simply not true. Only 1 in 5 people in state and federal prison are imprisoned for drug crimes. Around 5% are considered low-level drug offenders.
Don’t take my word for it?
I read all 18,000 of Ta-Nehisi Coates 2015 piece in The Atlantic titled “The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration.” Took 17,000 words to get to this very important piece that practically undermined many of his points:
"One 2004 study found that the proportion of “unambiguously low-level drug offenders” could be less than 6 percent in state prisons and less than 2 percent in federal ones. Decarceration raises a difficult question: What do we mean by violent crime, and how should it be punished?"
2
@richard
“.we have the largest prison population in the world and a lot of it are drug offenders who are not big dealers in drugs”
How about reducing the sentences for the innocent, and impose draconian sentences for corrupt judges, prosecutors and presidents?
2
Maybe he will do something right.
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“If Mr. Trump follows through.”
Well, I see no storm clouds on the horizon, then.
4
This bill would be a step towards justice for this country. I hope it passes.
21
"Expected."
Do we not learn?
3
Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) deserves a lot of credit for helping to make this reform possible. Along with Rand Paul (R.-Ky.), he's probably the most libertarian-minded senator.
Now, if he can succeed in restoring governance by Congress rather than the aloof federal agencies that now largely govern us, that would be worthy of the equivalent of a Nobel prize.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-rise-of-the-fourth-branch-of-government/2013/05/24/c7faaad0-c2ed-11e2-9fe2-6ee52d0eb7c1_story.html?utm_term=.5020d7f6e15b
9
A bill that makes perfect sense supported by both parties? What is going on here? Has my browser not refreshed since 1990?
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@Mr. SeaMonkey
Because of the opioid epidemic, a lot more drug addicts are white. This bill cuts them a break. Unless the bill is retroactively applied to ALL drug convictions, not just crack, its just another accommodation perpetuating the racism of our justice system. Makes me sick how differently the opioid epidemic is being addressed compared to the earlier urban drug epidemics. It was all law and order back then. All cuddles and tears now. Why dont they let the jails fill up with white people? Why the soft touch all of a sudden? Why dont they adjust the past injustices? Those who are already suffering unjustly need help more than those who may potentially suffer in the future.
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@victor Sanchez Very interesting! It sure looks like you have a strong point. And it gives me something to think about. Thanks for posting that.
3
@victor Sanchez I think people really need to realize that this is only aimed at Federal offenders. As another poster above points out, this does not do anything for state or county offenders, which make up the vast majority of the prison population!
1
I wonder if Kim Kardashian’s advocacy had any role in this even being considered by Trump. It was amazing what she did for Alice Marie Johnson.
I never thought I’d be relying on two reality stars for prison reform but here we are.
17
Please. Change is needed.
4
Big surprise! A Republican president doing a very un-Republican thing - softening on crime. One of the things Trump promissed was to be tough on crime - so much more in line with Republican thinking. Of course we all knew that he was talking about blue-collar crime. You know, stealing bread, etc. as apposed to the white collar crime of stealing someones life savings. That latter kind of crime has already been supported by Trump as he eliminated the fiduciary responsibility of investment councilors that Obama had imposed.
America incarcerates more people than any other country - even more than "human rights abuser" China. What does that tell you? Republicanism is what we are living.
6
He'd only sign it to make his son-in-law and "adviser" look good. He couldn't care less about the substance.
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@Karen
This way of talking makes nasty the norm.Are you sure he doesn't care?
2
Hmmmm, confusing. I would assume the for-profit prison industrial complex would have put the kibosh on this....?
8
Long gone are the days of issues as issues, now everything is just political footballs.
4
It sounds, from the general outline provided to be a step towards overdue reform.
One noted provision bothers me:
"the bill would eliminate the so-called stacking regulation that makes it a federal crime to possess a firearm while committing another crime, like a drug offense." The use of a firearm in a crime increases the likelihood of death and serious injury, and frightens entire neighborhoods into silence .... [Granted, I don;t know the nature of the automatic "stacking " which may mean something other than "used in the commission of a crime" }
5
How can we exploit whatever commonalities between both parties that might allow legislation for a just cause? Laws that might actually help the most under-served citizens in this country. How is such cooperation possible?
15
"That may not be easy, especially with so little legislative time to move a complicated bill with broad implications for the nation’s criminal justice system. As of Wednesday morning, many senators had not yet to even seen draft text of the bill."
Remind me again... what was the legislative process for that tax bill?
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@John
The McConnell Process:
1) Closed Hearings
2) All Democrats Excluded
3) Convince Everyone It Is In Their Interest (even though it isn't)
4) Don't Read The Bill, Ram It Through In No Time At All
21
I bet he won't sign it. He is sulking.
35
This appears to be a no-brainer; however, with our dysfunctional Congress and leader, they are sure have this reasonable legislation buried in the swamp.
30
It is no secret that a large percentage of prisoners today suffer from underlying mental illness, yet as far as I know there is no national effort to
1. spend more money on mental health in prisons.
2. placing non-violent prisoners who suffer mental health problems in separate facilities that more resemble psychiatric hospitals than they do prisons.
3. consider further reducing sentences for prisoners who have underlying mental health disorders that may have lent to their crime (e.g. drug seeking behavior for treating undiagnosed or untreated mental health problems).
I am not an expert in these areas but there are mental health professionals and law enforcement professionals who are and I wish Congress and President Trump would give these experts a greater voice in remaking our prisons and sentencing laws.
111
Since when has a son-in-law's input become so important to change the laws of our country? What happened to the people we elected to represent us, deliberate and decide what laws need change or what new laws need to be enacted? This is nepotism. Period.
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@NNItalk about the issue.
6
@NNI
Presidents always listen to all kinds of advisers and then make their decision.Listening to your son-in-law is not nepotism.The decision will be make by elected officials as it should be.There is plenty to dislike about Trump ,I get it .To let Jarred talk to him advocating for change in our broken criminal system is is not among the presidential sins
4
@NNI
Jared's genius is no longer hidden. After his historic success with the Israeli Palestinian conundrum this will be like making ice.
1
The silence from the left/progressive party is deafening. If silence is consent then sounds like Trump, Kushner, Grassley, Ryan, McConnell got this one right.
18
Um, ACLU much? And maybe McConnell et al didn’t ask for any help or discussion?
7
@Brian
Disinformation again. You're up is down philosophy is wrong.
6
@Brian If democrats come out in support, it will drive Trump off it.
And not just Trump.
Whenever democrats embrace a republican idea (Romneycare health care; carbon tax; cap and trade) suddenly the republicans jump to the other side.
8
Could this be the first good thing to come out of the Trump Administration? I'll take it. Thanks Jared.
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This article would be improved if all the opponents to the deal were named.
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@Dana Charbonneau, Start with Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and some Democrats. One side thinks it goes too far and the other, not far enough as the original stalled proposal.
Too much to list, read for more background: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/5/22/17377324/first-step-act-prison-reform-congress
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/26/us/politics/criminal-justice-overhaul-prison-bill.html
9
Frankly, with the House changing hands, unless the Donkeys endorse the GOP and DT’s plans, I would wait until next year to act on anything.
4
If the sentencing laws in our country were actually making a difference with the illicit drug industry, we would be seeing a decrease in the amount of those substances being used, people getting addicted to, money being made and the black market dominance with the resultant violent crime that comes with it. Alas, we are not! We have the largest population of people in prison and jail then comparative countries. It's not working! Certainly, locking away non-violent folks for drug crimes for years and years is not the answer. Anybody opposed to reform and progress should be ignored. Smoke pot people, chill out and work hard!
31