Quiz:
Under which President was this reform passed?
Not sure if this fully restores my faith in American democracy but it definitely makes my day! That picture of Grassley and Booker is lovely. #makingamericabetter
Thank you, President Trump! You made it possible.
1
IT is once again a beginning.Which merits being acknowledged.And as one does so, and thanks those elected policymakers, and a network of other individual and systemic stakeholders whose help enabled this to begin, without knowing any of its actual inbetweens and outcomes, one might consider both knowing and understanding what took IT so long to BE? So that IT becomes an opportunity to learn from, in order to make additional needed differences that actually make a difference. What can we expect from this policy change re incidence and prevalence of the daily, culturally-rooted violating of created, selected, targeted “ the other” in our enabled, toxic WE-THEY culture? How can/will this beginning of a lessening in legalistic criminalization-outcomes BE transmuted into lessening words and deeds which harm? Temporarily as well as more permanently? Bodies.Psyches. Spirits. Souls. Opportunities for achievable and sustainable wellbeing. Committed by policymakers immune to being personally accountable?As we minimize the enabled politically underpinned New Jim Crow derived consequences, what does LAW in a divided US note about separating (“kidnapping”)minors from their parents and “wharehousing” THEM in tent camps (DP camps post WWII?). What is the legal punishment for complicity and/or complacency in knowingly traumatizing a fellow being; whatever their citizenship? What are the legal parameters of minimal to maximum menschlichkeit? Is this term, value,process “ pro-life?”
i’m not sure safety is their real concern
Wow, so many sore winners in the comment section! Me, I’m grateful for anything — no matter how imperfect or incomplete — that makes things “better” overall.
More rational sentencing guidelines, rarefied levels of bipartisan governing... this jaded old man sees a ray of sanity in some crazy times, and nowadays I’ll take what I can get!
2
Thank you President Trump!
Wouldn’t have happened without your leadership.
2
Trump and Kushner want sentencing reform? I bet they do!
3
"The legislation would also prohibit the shackling of pregnant inmates and the use of solitary confinement for juveniles in almost all cases. " Startling to believe this is the norm in prison.
The psychological damage of solitary confinement on juveniles is paramount to child abuse. As a clinician and a mandated reporter I would be ethically bound to report it to the proper authorities.
2
When something good like this occurs we should be thankful and not cynical. This is something that helps over 180,000 incarcerated people not to mention their Families.
Once again Trump gets the job done and the Left tries to demean him.
He has done more for this country in 2 years than the previous 16 combined.
I for one applaud this man who continues to succeed against the State Controlled Media,Deep State,Never Trumpers and Leftists.
1
"the so-called stacking mechanism making it a federal crime to possess a firearm while committing another crime, like a drug offense, should apply only to individuals who have previously been convicted." I suspect this part jumped in in the last minute as a deal. Good job, NRA and its supporters.
That's a beautiful photo of the two men-- an image that Americans deserve to see more often of our elected representatives.
When crime was at record highs in the 80s and 90s politicians ran on being “tough on crime” and they won. Now that crime rates are lower and the populace is exhausted by decades of harshness, reform is popular. If we were to get rid of guns (not gonna happen) there’d be an enormous drop in violent crime and a possible opening to a kinder gentler justice system. But if violence returns to 80s levels, expect to see a return to very long sentences. Our heartfelt opinions about punishment vary with the prevailing conditions.
2
It's hopeful, but it's only federal law. The states need to step up and decriminalize or reduce punishment for many offenses across the board; instead spend the money on rehab and education, jobs and training. But there is so much money to be made on the state, county, and city level on incarceration, and prison guard unions and private prisons have a vested interest. It is big business, and money talks. Locking people up, just like waging war, is profitable and the taxpayers foot the bill.
2
Thank you, President Trump. You are a pragmatist and a true visionary leader with NO ideological allegiances, but a problem-solving mentality. That’s why you are delivering on your promises.
Don’t let the liberal media or the haters stop you. Let history judge your great accomplishments.
May God bless you and your family. And may the NYT have the courage to publish this letter.
3
The Republicans were only interested in this bill because incarceration has gotten so bad that - horror of horrors - now it affects *them and their families* (I'm looking at you, Jared. And while Daddy is a Democrat, you are working for a Republican president), not because it is good for the country at large. They really aren't capable of thinking and governing that way.
1
It's a good thing to hear bi-partisan support on anything and I applaud Trump in this instance if he follows thru. When do we get to talk about Marijuana classification, the same as cocaine, and the disproportionate effect on minority communities? What about the privatization of prisons? Why rehabilitate when you can incarcerate and make more money.
2
America needs a special prison for wealthy Republicans who are accustomed to committing crimes with impunity. Once incarcerated they need to be provided rehabilitation programs that will help them to make positive contributions to society after their jail terms are served.
4
How did the bill fall short compared to what Obama proposed?
Can we get those details?
If folks do not have housing upon release, they may end up back in jail, especially if they are branded felons and cannot find employment.
Is Cornyn making their neighborhoods viable in that way?
3
So I need to commit a crime to get free education?
2
Looking forward to the “six times and you’re out” bill.....
What do they consider non-violent crime? People who are drug dealers are violent offenders. They are not wielding guns but they are still committing violence on their customers. Instead of killing them immediately, it might take a while. Also, stealing or breaking and entering isn't considered violent, but it inflicts a lot of psychological pain on the victims. I am tired of hearing about the poor mistreated convict. The only part I agree with is that powder cocaine dealers should get the same sentence as the crack dealers. That should mean lengthen the cocaine dealers' sentences, not shorten the crack dealers'. Don't commit the crime if you can't do the time.
13
Interesting that any mention of the previous administration should be made in this sweeping reform that President Obama never touched or considered making.
5
Finally. Credit given when due, congratulations to all involved. THIS is the biggest accomplishment and most DECENT thing to happen in the Trump Regime. Seriously.
10
This is not a case of less is more. More, is, instead, fully reforming a horrible, draconian, system, which fills coffers and gets votes for cynical politicians.
Mandatory sentencing is a travesty. In a sane society judges factor sentencing using wisdom, not bear traps. Who are we, when it is a celebratory innovation, that pregnant women aren't shackled? Solitary confinement for anyone, not just children, is cruel, and routinely causes psychotic breaks, that irretrievably impact a human, and the people who decide who goes into the hole are usually the lowest level, GED educated, correctional officers . It should be illegal for the for-profit prison industry to be able to lobby congressional members for longer sentences and increased statutes to cage people, and make them money. As someone who volunteers with the incarcerated, we haven't even broken the ice, or begun to make common sense.
Recent studies show that one half of Americans have had a family member who was incarcerated. It isn't a marginal part of society, that is affected. Democrats should get to work on new and greater reforms immediately and with urgency, because it is, indeed, urgent, for the millions who are suffering behind bars, and their friends, families, and especially, children.
2
Stands to reason that Trump would be interested in prison reform since that's where he's ultimately headed.
9
I see CoreCivic, Inc (ex Corrections Corporation of America) is down 6% as is GEO and other private prisons companies. Seems their spectacular rise over the past 20 years made them too complacent. Reducing lobbying to unsustainable level in our pay-to-play system has dire consequences.
1
It's a start.
The unraveling of injustices is quite complex.
3
I have just one question: Why are private prison corporations championing this bill?
2
Perhaps because their survival depends on market factors, not the self interest of unions representing state cops, prison guards and the rest of the bureaucracy that has replaced officer friendly, the kindly cop on the corner.
The best thing about this is the emphasis on reducing recidivism. Now, if only private prison fees could be tied to this objective we might see some real progress. If it worked for readmissions to hospitals, why not for repeat incarcerations?
2
Though "only" a first step, this looks like a real Christmas present from the Senate for many Americans. Bi-partisan, common sense, actual prison reform. Bravo!
17
@Ellen When do crime victims get their Christmas present?
1
Every day, when they wake up alive with enough health and freedom to live a life worth living. Same as the rest of us.
Or not, the choice is yours.
1
Prison reform is releasing prisoners before they have served their lawfully administered sentences?
1
@Anthill Atoms I'd urge you not to conflate lawful and ethical or moral. The article offers a good example in the difference in sentencing between crack and cocaine offenses. Additionally, the second to last paragraph also points out that, "the bill passed on Tuesday limits most of those changes to future offenders." So I'm not really sure where your grievance is coming from.
3
No, it’s releasing prisoners according to the changes in the law.
4
Yes, when hindsight, data, and/or common sense reveal that their “lawfully administered sentences” were often unreasonable or, in many cases, unjust and draconian.
1
This bill took 4 years to come to the floor due to republican obstruction
10
Given that Kushner is a primary force behind the law, and he and his in-laws are also primary candidates for ‘non-violent’ criminal incarceration, it’s hard not to be cynical. Nevertheless, I suppose that progress is progress, if, and it’s a big if, this doesn’t paradoxically end up encouraging more white-collar crimes, for instance, such that a crime isn’t a crime, just as truth isn’t truth.
6
Step two should be balancing the sentences for White Collar and Political Crimes with those for street crimes.
Street criminals get year or decades in hardcore prisons while the White Collar and Political Criminals get a week or two in Club Fed. The Mueller investigation is proving that out. Those who betray our country getting probation while someone who steals a candy bar from a 7-11 can get three to five.
In America you get all the justice you can afford.
17
It is always pleasing to see a Senate or House bill passed with bipartisan support. It never made sense for society to sentence someone for a crime, but continue to punish them after they have served their time. This flawed process only reinforces to these former prisoners to continue their bad habits as a means to survive economically. Hopefully, this new approach will reduce the need to return to incarceration just to have basic food, shelter and clothing needs met. The more productive our society is will result in a better economic environment for all of us.
25
I guess something is better than nothing. Not much. After 40 years of the war on drugs and tough on crime that led to huge increases in incarceration a minor change. I guess now that most junkies on heroin are white it is time to go easy. Remember in the 1960's forward if you got caught OD you didn't go to hospital you went to jail. Make America great.
7
This guarantees big increases in violent crime. With recidivism running at over 70% for criminals under 30... by definition this unleashes convicted violent felony criminals on society.
1
Thus spake the base.
7
Interesting. So the only thing that Trump will have achieved, in terms of legislative record, when it comes to US crime, is to make the US criminal justice system less severe.
No wall, no southern border strengthening, no solution for the DACA problem, no deportation of all 11 million illegal aliens.
2
@Ana Luisa
Not quite, Ana.
Here are the items you missed:
1. Passing a tax reform act which lowered the corporate tax rate to that of most European countries, and set off an economic boom and the lowest unemployment in several decades;
2. Removing the US from the suicidal "Iranian Nuclear Deal" which permitted a Mullah bomb in ten years instead of immediately, and then Trump got Congress to pass sweeping new sanctions against Iran, and the Russian elite (for murdering Russians in Britain and elsewhere;
3. Opening up the Arctic refuge and other heretofore off limits national land to regulated drilling, thereby, with fracking, making the US truly energy independent for the first time in a century, and reducing the role of OPEC;
4. Removing the "mandatory mandate with fine" from the ACA, eliminating the prop of a tax on the younger generation to support the older population in health care;
5. The bi-partisan First Step Act, modifiying federal sentencing, especially for non-violent drug offenders, which will greatly impact the black community, which saw incarceration rates soar under Bill Clinton.
Of course, Ana, not include here are the very positive executive action policy measures enacted by Trump, including:
6. Fulfilling a bi-partisan American promise to move our embassy to Jerusalem;
7. Attempting to end sanctuary cities;
8. Removing the US from the unrealistic Paris Climate accord, while Paris burned recently...
4
Ana was referring to crime related legislation.
I remember when we got ourselves into this mess. Congress was very polarized, but locking up more black men was something they could agree on. And now we're starting to clean up that mess, once again by a rare show of bipartisanship in a very polarized Congress. Interesting how it's been bipartisan, both going in and coming out, both in making the mistake and in realizing the mistake and trying to change.
4
Fantastic good news! I’m glad to see Mr Booker leading the charge here as he is a politician who truly cares for people. Other politicians - please take detailed notes and do as he does. Do your jobs, please, with passion and meaning. Sadly this won’t reimburse or give people back what was taken from them.
4
@Left Coast You say "...reimburse or give people back what was taken from them."
You must be kidding. These are convicted criminals, many of them sex offenders and violent offenders. Who is going to reimburse or compensate their victims for what was taken from THEM?
Given the recidivism rate of federal convicts (44% after 5 years), who will compensate their future victims for what will be taken from them? This bill makes no provision for compensating past or future victims of these criminals; tough luck for the victims.
This is fairly monumental that such large groups and personalities from both sides of the aisle were able to compromise and get something done. Of course it's buried in the back page of the NYT.
3
So, you politicians, doesn't it feel much better to cooperate and actually get something meaningful accomplished? You should try it again sometime.
17
@GBGB
By writing "politicians" rather than "Republicans", I'm afraid you're part of the problem ...
4
@GBGB I think it is also up to us as voters to encourage compromise and vote for politicians that do it, and vote out politicians that criticize compromise with the other side in order to win elections.
5
Interesting Republicans agreeing to prison reform now when many have the potential of heading for 3 squares and a bed once they are exposed for taking rubles for their campaign re-elections laundered through the NRA.
25
@Jacquie
Chuckles
1
First step? Heck yes. Now, legalize marijuana nationwide and take it off the Schedule I list. Hundreds of thousands of arrests, mostly of black and brown people, for mere possession of a trace of marijuana. Countless man-hours spent on and wasted initiating and processing these people into the criminal "justice" system. Then move on and get rid of the prison-for-corporate-profit system we have. The millions of dollars that these corporation pour into the coffers of our politicians in legal bribes is an obscene injustice. It is the lowest form of corruption (if corruption can be ranked) by profiting off the imprisonment of people. And finally, get rid of modern day debtor's prison run by the country's municipal court system. Locking up poor people because they can't pay parking tickets and court fines is an injustice and needs reform.
103
This charade is much too little and too late and too misplaced.
This is bipartisan bi-colored aka race cruel and unusual punishment and hypocrisy. America is the leading nation past and present in mass incarceration. Twice as many Americans are currently part of the criminal justice system than were enslaved on the eve of Civil War.
America has 25% of the world's prisoners with 5% of humanity. And while only 13.3% of Americans are black like Ben Carson about 40% of the 2.3 million Americans in prison are black like Tim Scott. Because blacks are persecuted for acting like white people do without any criminal justice consequences. Prison is the carefully carved colored exception to the 13th Amendments abolition of slavery and involuntary servitude.
Most American prisoners are in state and local prisons aka 90%. They are not in federal prisons aka 10%. What we need are fewer crimes and prisoners. What we need are fewer prisoners who are in prison because they are black and brown and poor and are mentally ill and are uneducated and are non-violent and unorganized. What we need are prisons that reform and rehabilitate and release better people.
Prison should be for the career, the organized, the violent and the incorrigible who do the most damage to our socioeconomic educational political order values and interests regardless of color aka race, ethnicity, religion, education, socioeconomics, etc.
See "13th " Ava DuVernay; " The New Jim Crow" Michelle Alexander
25
There are reasons why poorer people make up a disproportionate number of those incarcerated that are the direct result of poverty. Poverty creates dysfunctional individuals and families because they lack the resources to meet all of their needs. It leads to psychological stresses which lead to substance abuse, abusing others, and criminal behaviors. It turns people into desperate people who break laws and defy authority at much higher rates than people who live in peacefully and affluent communities. The disparate numbers of African Americans and of Latinos incarcerated reflects greater poverty where they have grown up due to centuries of racial discrimination, which the lack of significant growth in the domestic economy since the 1970’s has assured could not be overcome.
2
@Casual Observer
Nonsense.
Most crime involves people of the same color aka race, socioeconomic, educational ethnic sectarian national origin castes and classes
About 95% of homicides involve people of the same color aka race. The other 5% are evenly distributed between the colors aka races.
For decades more than twice as many white people have been arrested for all categories of crimes except gambling and robbery. But blacks are persecuted into prison for doing what white people do with no criminal justice consequences.
By the way there is only one biological DNA genetic evolutionary fit human race species that began in Africa 300, 000 years ago. Color is related to producing Vitamin D and protecting genes from damaging mutations from different levels of solar radiation at altitudes and latitudes.
I think to see real change in recidivism rates, Hawaii’s background check system should be implemented nationwide. If I remember correctly, under their system an employer can only look at an applicant’s background after they’ve offered them the job and can only rescind that offer if the crime directly relates to the job.
Of course investing in training programs helps, but having a criminal record almost always will prevent someone from obtaining a well paying job.
9
If drug dealers are non-violent, then from where does all of the drug violence come?
2
@Joseph L Cooke for starters, most drug related offenses are committed by drug users, not drug dealers. Possession, which can land a minority offender with a multi-years long sentence, often involves no violence. It’s you getting caught with a controlled substance.
Hopefully another outcome of this reform will be a start in challenging and changing people’s biases, and the callous manner in which we write off individuals as unworthy to participate in society.
11
@Joseph L Cooke
If drug use and distribution were significantly decriminalized, drug violence would diminish very sharply. Yes, a huge group of inmates are incarcerated in some relationship to drug use. Most aren't there because of criminal behavior while intoxicated, but because of the economy of drug addiction. Some drugs do bring out aggression. But mostly, addicts turn to crime to support their habits. If drugs were cheap or even free, decriminalized, addicts wouldn't desperately need to hold up stores or mug people for a fix, to prevent extremely painful withdrawal.
Marijuana (a habit forming but not strictly addicting drugs) is a common weed. Heavy users pay $400-500 a week for it. Poppy flowers grow wild.
You may or may not be sympathetic to addicts, or care about addiction. Doesn't matter. You are paying for their expensive incarceration, along with the emotionally and material expensive consequences to their children, who are also likely to eventually be incarcerated. Wealthy heroin addicts can maintain jobs and a social life, because reliable access to reliable quality drugs through reliable dealers, gives them stability. Desperation is not a by product of the drug, but of the fact that it is criminalized and stigmatized.
People have a choice. They can enjoy being judgmental, blaming addicts for depravity, or they can work on ways to solve the problem, using common sense.
1
Coors is nonviolent. Anheuser-Busch is nonviolent. So why was the beer business so bloody under Al Capone?
Because an illegal business can't sue anyone for fraud or have them arrested for embezzlement or file lawsuits for unfair competition or trademark violation.
Legal businesses can employ lawyers to handle those problems. An illegal business can only resort to force to deal with business obstacles.
Americans decided in 1932 when they voted for Repeal that they preferred legal booze over the violence that came from trying to keep booze illegal.
2
The private prison system needs to be taken on-It is deliberately unaccountable to public scrutiny. These prisons are about profit and not incentivized to tend to the health and welfare of their inmates.
14
Now we need to address the bail system nation wide, in an innocent until proven guilty society no one should be incarcerated due to lack of resources to afford their bond.
17
Another tepid response to mass incarceration, and it only involves 6% of our prison and jail population. Self-congratulatory “embracing” for finally equalizing penalties for black and white dealing of coke at this late date is cynical. You can train all the prisoners you want, but if no one will hire them you are wasting your time. How’s about some tax incentives for hiring offenders? Solitary confinement constitutes torture, i.e., cruel and unusual punishment, as much for minors as adults. And lucky day for three strikes and you only get 25 years. Sweet mercy.
6
@Joe B. How about not committing crimes that harm or kill others? Novel idea?
2
Long overdue and a great move forward, but let's also maintain a little perspective. The federal prison system has less than 200,000 inmates. The real numbers are in state prisons and jails, which hold about 2,000,000 people at any given time. There are more people incarcerated in Texas alone than in the entire federal system.
I applaud the federal action here, but fundamentally this not a federal problem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_incarceration_and_correctional_supervision_rate
11
I once read that the Koch brothers back this legislation because they want white collar criminals to get off easier.
6
Why does America keep fooling herself? What is known for sure is that recidivism, especially among violent felons and drug dealers is almost nonexistent, and results in pain and death for innocent individuals who are the victims of these felons. Keep career criminals locked up and prevent future suffering by those who have committed no crime!
1
In this age of partisan gridlock it is truly gratifying that liberals and conservatives could find common ground and do something truly positive.
7
People forget that Bill Clinton had a big role in the explosion of the prison population with his passing of the omnibus crime bill. Countless lives destroyed and many pockets enriched in the Prison Industrial Complex.
11
@Sean
I think a number of people who would not vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016 remembered the omnibus crime bill that came about during Bill Clinton's presidency. They were a "two-for-the-price-of-one" presidency as I recall.
2
have a memory?
back in the 1970's, we had ALL thgese programs to reduce recidivism going and working.
then - by the end of regan's administration - all the MONEY was gone.
yet - there are programs that have scraped together money and volunteers to keep going and they still work.
just find them and COPY THEM.
3
@bob lesch Tx for the reminder Bob. In the 70s we were a country working to improve lives of own citizens as well human rights around the world, lead by
Jimmy Carter. Our presidents who invade foreign countries and increase the division of wealth in the US are celebrated. The President who cared about us all, tried to wake us up to environmental protections, is continuing world wide efforts to improve health and democratic elections into his 90s is is virtually ignored. Go figure.
6
Well if you loved the Republican war on crime your party just spoiled your fun. Your boy Mitch just couldn’t slime his way out of this one. But hey look on the bright side. It might lead to more equitable treatment of incarcerated people.
Corey, I'm uncomfortable seeing you chum it up with Chuck Grassley after his #Kavanaugh travesty.
9
One of shocks of the Mueller investigation has been how short the “White Collar” crime recommended sentences have been, for truly heinous crimes that would be treason if we were at war. Meanwhile, the lady who got confused about her voter eligibility and wrongly voted in 2016 got an 8 year sentence. I hope this new law looks at how the wealth of the criminals impacts the sentencing. And that this law spurs state level reforms.
15
There's a strong correlation between lead exposure and crime rates. Crime rates peaked in the 80's, then began dropping in synch with the removal of lead from our environment, most significantly the removal of lead from gasoline.
Nixon first pushed strong sentencing, particularly for drug-related offenses. Reagan implemented his War on (Some) Drugs along with minimum mandatory sentencing. Clinton drove the final stake w/ his three-strikes policy. All of these were particularly damaging to racial minorities.
Decades later, we take the first baby steps toward reversing the bad policies that resulted in millions of citizens being incarcerated, unnecessarily and expensively, for non-violent, small-time drug "crimes".
3
Wow.
So under a Trump presidency, Florida ex-felons have had their voting rights restored and non violent drug offenders are being treated more fairly.
My head hurts.
6
@bobw Nice one, Bob. Merely a coincidence in time.
1
The three strikes laws and minimum sentences were politically motivated ones not based upon sound consideration of what was in the best interests of society. The were fueled by politicians offering solutions that played on fear and loathing.
There are sociopathic criminals who should never be allowed to be free because they will not stop preying on others but the three strikes laws never really focused upon this population. Judges and juries are not perfect but they are in better position to determine who did what and why than legislators trying to predict the same years before the events occur. The mandatory sentences laws were draconian measures that served no useful purpose.
3
@Casual Observer oh, they certainly served a purpose for the special interests of the prison industry complex !
1
Yes, the prison industry which survives on shrinking tax payer dollars. Not a smart explanation for the high incarceration rates, I think.
This too little too late. As another article in this paper details the mis-justice being carried out on an almost daily basis has created a system where defendants can hardly ever get a fair trial. Prosecutors need to be held accountable and jailed for their misdeeds. Justices should be required to undergo some sort of continuing education. Come on America!
2
Lincoln freed the slaves.
Trump freed the wrongly and excessively incarcerated.
And if criminal justice reform had bipartisan support, so should real, comprehensive immigration reform that defends America's borders, welcomes more talented people, protects Dreamers, and discourages mass migration of the unskilled.
3
Kudos to Senators Booker and Grassley! Let's see what we can do about improving this country's infrastructure next. Five billion dollars for that instead of a Wall sounds like a start.
6
@Sledge - are you referring to those shovel ready jobs from Obama's stimulus? (cough)
3
The fact that it's bipartisan is a step in the right direction. I won't say a giant step because the Senate should should have been working this way all along. Now we wait for the House that is still full of aggravated loosers.
1
McConnell would never have permitted any sort of effective bipartisan criminal reform legislation to be debated or to pass in the Senate if he were not confronted with an incoming Democratic majority in the House. Maybe that gives us some hope for useful and widely beneficial health care reform in 2019. But I doubt it.
4
This just goes to show how broken OUR U.S. Government systems have become since the Koch brothers and their inherited/stolen wealth brethren have tried to destroy it for 40+ years.
The fact that this is big, welcome news is ludicrous. They just did their job and I'll bet corporate giants will make even more money from the "new" system.
The Good News is that WE THE PEOPLE will hire/elect Socially Conscious Women and men to manage OUR governments at every level and DEMAND that they take further steps to stop long-term imprisonment for non-violent crimes and take the profit out of the system.
6
Imagine if Dr No. from Kentucky wasn't Majority Leader and this bill would have been passed years ago.
Also giving credit to Jared Kushner for his efforts on the bill is kind of laughable. Besides he should know about prison since his father has spent time in one and he and his father in law and brothers in law might be spending some time in a prison at some point in the near future.
It's Mueller time.........
14
@Futbolistaviva
I am so stealing that line.
Congrats Republicans. You've had a generation of these ridiculous "tough on crime" laws and politicians. In that time you have locked up countless non-violent marijuana and other drug offenders. You have made the owners of the for profit industry wealthy beyond their wildest imagination.
You have empowered countless cops to murder minorities for little or no reason.
You have locked people up for years because they were hungry and stole a slice of Pizza.
Of course you cleaned up in elections over it as most Americans are a bunch of scared imbasils.
Now that you are going the way of the dodo, you decide, hey this was all a big mistake?
We won't forget.
15
@Rick Please tell us who was locked up for more than a few hours for stealing a slice of pizza. Please cite a specific case.
1
@me - 4 years ago my son, in his early 20s (btw he's white), was picked up on a warrant sweep in Central California. He had unserved community service (he couldn't afford to pay the fine) in Santa Barbara county for skateboarding tickets (from over a year prior). This generated a warrant. (Not "pizza theft", but equally non-violent.) He was put on a bus with other "round-ups" who had warrants for various crimes. He had a job, girlfriend, etc. We couldn't find him for 2 days. He had disappeared into thin air. Terrifying. No phone call, no information anywhere. Eventually we discovered my son was thrown in a cell in L.A. county jail for three nights waiting to be transported to S.B. county for a hearing. His cell mate was a gang member charged with an extraordinarily violent crime. My son stayed awake-sitting up against a wall-for three days and nights. The experience left him with symptoms later diagnosed as PTSD. He won't talk about it. When he was transported to the courthouse in S.B., the judge took one look at him and declared that my son had indeed served more than his debt to society. TG for this judge. This is 1 example of the absurdity of the CRJ system, and how damaging it can be. I personally know of many more examples. I share this so you understand- while incarceration disproportionately happens to young men of color who you should, but may not care about, over-reaching law enforcement and draconian application of law can affect almost anyone's child-even yours.
2
@Rick So, you would prefer to just not prosecute criminals. And I am still waiting for the citation of the case of the person in prison for stealing a slice of pizza.
So this is a watered down version of a 2015 Obama bill that Mitch McConnell wouldn't bring to the floor.
25
Remember this is the bill that Mitch MaConnell tried to block, only to be rescued by huge bi-partisan support. Republicans live in their own little autocracy. Vote 2020.
14
They need to remove for profit prisons to really make changes. Texas is the worst.
37
Watch our low crime rates go up.
4
First Step Act is well named on at least two levels. While it is a first step for the prisoners to be released, it should also be a first step towards further criminal justice reforms!
5
This is as close as we'll come to having tough-on-crime drug warriors admitting that they were wrong, if not evil. Now how do they give all those stolen years back to nonviolent inmates who were swept up in the drug-prohibition hysteria?
7
This is what bipartisanship looks like, what it is.
Here's a moment of light in the darkness where
people put the common good of the country above party.
And even though Trump and Kushner are riddled with corruption, I don't want to be the cynical, bitter Scrooge who will deny them even one moment of praise for their support of this bill. This one act of goodness is worth acknowledging.
18
You have to either get rid of or carefully oversee private prisons. They exist to make money, and you don’t make money with early prisoner release or lower rates of incarceration.
17
It is a huge disappointment to me that the disparity in sentencing for crack cocaine vs. powder cocaine is not retroactive.
7
Let's see how well-conceived this turns out to be; how the "t's" are closed and the "I's" are dotted. Criminal Justice reform is long overdue but, as with any legislation, there will be faults that need to be corrected and partisan "back doors" built in.
Trump rails about "protecting" Americans with his insane "Great Wall of Trump", his homage to himself, his pyramid of pomposity. No comment on this reform bill, though - THAT would take some actual reading and thought (two traits that Trump is lacking).
Let us see what happens here. Is meaningful progress possible with such a divided government?
2
I hope independents and real republicans will take notice that Mitch McConnell resisted letting this bill come to a vote on the floor, it would have died behind closed doors if not for the Democrat House win. Yet it passed with 87 votes. This tells us that this bill could have been passed 2years ago if not for the leader of the party of “no”. What other bills could be passed if McConnell would get out of the way?
Republicans in high places just waste time and money, they don’t care to get things done until they have to.
52
@CTMD
McConnell's only priority is packing the courts as quickly as he can while he still can. I'm surprised he even allowed this.
13
Cory Booker just had more Booker for President 2020 placards ordered...
I'm not saying he advanced this legislation just to advance his career no wait, that is exactly what I'm saying.
Anyway it's good for America.
2
@Alan
It must be straining to be so cynical sometimes. Everything is only ever done for selfish reasons. No one can ever do the altruistic good thing. Always an ulterior motive.
Maybe sometime people can do the right thing, both for themselves and the country?
8
@Alan Vote Booker if you want to turn the whole country into Newark.
1
See, it's possible they can work together.
3
"That would help many African-American offenders who were disproportionately punished for crack dealing while white drug dealers got off easier for selling powder cocaine."
In addition to being structurally suspect, this sentence is very biased.
Properly re written it should read. "These changes may help convicted crack dealers who are disproportionately African-American, compared to convicted cocaine powder dealers who were more likely to be Caucasian."
The law changes the punishment for crack dealers and not for being Black vs White. The previously sentencing guidelines were tougher on crack dealers, irrespective of the dealer's race.
I also take issue that everything in crime is race. Convictions for Insider trading and securities fraud laws overwhelming affect Caucasians. This does not mean these laws are racist.
Lastly, liberals argue that race is a social construct and a relatively new one (which I totally agree). Why then, do the same individuals obsess over categorizing people?
8
@nydoc "Convictions for Insider trading and securities fraud laws overwhelming affect Caucasians. This does not mean these laws are racist." I don't know what you are trying to get at, I really don't. *Rates of incarceration* disproportionately hammer minorities, and convictions for insider trading and securities fraud are laughably fewer and sentences are pathetically brief. There is a racial component to this disparity and it has been shown time and again, all the way down to elementary school discipline. Sheesh.
4
@nydoc
People dont obsess over categorizing people, but about NEGATIVELY and INCORRECTLY categorizing people, in other words, racism.
3
@nydoc
You missed the point that crack was a low budget drug that was consumed primarily by African Americans and other low income people who could not afford the pricier powdered cocaine, so these sentencing disparities affected them disproportionately.
4
This is counter to what former Attorney General Sessions wanted, but it is the first thing that Congress has done in a long time that makes sense to me.
I recently heard a talk by a US Attorney and his likely of the Federal System is that convicted people do their time completely. No early outs. I am not sure he would dislike the new law as it just changes how long we have to pay for them to be in jail. They will still do their time.
Through the years I have heard many prosecutors talk and in each case it is apparent that they really like to win cases and convict people. They are a very dedicated group.
2
In other words no REAL change. Our current justice system if you want to call it that is by definition; crimes against humanity. Let that sink in if you need to look up the definition before you reject my claim. As long as we have the DEA and our cruel useless war on drugs we will remain a backward hateful police state. This bill is NOT an overhaul by any means it's better than nothing like much of what our hateful politicians always do.
5
How come there were no comments addressing the trauma crime VICTIMS and their families experience?
3
@me "How come there were no comments addressing the trauma crime VICTIMS" ... because we are not talking about trauma crime VICTIMS in this article?
4
@Amskeptic And when will liberals ever admit such trauma exists?
@Amskeptic I think you missed my point.
They should take a look at some of the folks they will release. A lot of times criminals plead guilty to a lesser charge because the more serious charge is harder to prove. A person could be released because he plead guilty to drug possession, but he may have been originally been charged with beating up somebody, but the witness wouldn't snitch.
2
And in a parallel universe, progressive legislation gets passed and signed into law by the current president...
..and now back to our regularly scheduled broadcast
I wonder who wrote Trump's congratulatory tweet? Certainly it wasn't him.
6
Now we are moving to jail less frequently those from the lower reaches whose crimes don’t merit extended incarceration, when are we going to start incarcerating those from the higher reaches whose crimes thoroughly merit incarceration?
60
A first step of which Congress can be proud.
Doing the people’s work...finally.
May it continue.
12
The fact that congress actually worked together almost overshadows the news of the bill itself. How sad is that?
15
@Wish I could Tell You
Bipartisanship has to start somewhere.
3
Seems to me Trump must be pretty desperate to distract from the Mueller investigations if he's willing to make any news of this at all.
4
A sight for sore eyes, indeed,,,Senators Booker and Grassley sharing a smile and a hug. Who would ever think that this Congress could together accomplish a law that actually helps the everyday American? While I am heartened and hopeful that our legislative branch can actually perform in a bipartisan way as they should, in my mind it will never be enough until they stand up to the blatant corruption and destructive behavior of Donald Trump. McConnell and his team are enablers of the criminality of their president. There is no other way to say it. I am awaiting a more just "justice bill."
11
@Kathy Lollock And much thanks goes to Jared Kushner, although he won't be given it. He helped to push and broker this reform, but he's Trump's son-in-law, so he don't count.
3
As he, his children and minions face the prospect of years in jail, I’m sure it’s pure coincidence that the one bi-partisan bill Trump was able to successfully get passed is one involving prison reform.
10
Ok, good start. But don't ignore those who are in prison due to wrongful convictions -- and there are many! Reform must include biased, sloppy, and illegal police and prosecutorial practices that are being tolerated now. And why?? Why work so hard to convict the wrong person? What biases underlie these practices?
8
@Marian You nailed it Marian. The injustices are riddled throughout our "justice" system from point of arrest to bail system to prosecutors rewarded for cases won, innocence or guilt being irrelevant. And then there's the very high + correlation between money paid to lawyer and not being sentenced to prison for same crime. Recommend Traveling up the River in a Prison Nation by Halahan.
Make no mistake, strict sentencing laws for minor crimes are the weapon of choice for racists. Even though we fought a Civil War to insure respect for the concept that all men are created equal, the southern states have spent the next 100 years unjustly punishing people of color. Looking at the history of such unfair laws, one sees Republicans as their main propagators, one wonders why have they now come around to decency and fairness ? Let's see the repercussions.
13
While this is true, don’t delude yourself into thinking that systemic racism is limited to the South. Eric Garner was killed here. Philando Castile was killed in Minnesota. Racial disparities in arrests, sentencing and all other aspects of the criminal justice system are just as prevalent here in New York as they are in the South. NYC, one of the most diverse cities in the world, has the most segregated public schools in America. Not Louisiana, not Alabama - New York City. Racism is a national sin, not a regional one.
3
@eclectico Wake up. Yes, the southern states. And the northern states. The mid west, and the west coast. Racism is everywhere, and as much people would like to point south...it's pervasive. Your part of the country is not off the hook.
4
This article doesn’t focus on the main reason for criminal justice reform
The prior regime was racist
It played a major role in the targeted assault of minorities. The fact that it lasted this long was no accident.
Native Americans experienced a genocide like no other in this country. American media likes to hide that. They’re doing the same thing here.
If we don’t discuss our history then we get more ignorant white people who are racists because they don’t understand how they have what they have.
10
Despite being mainly symbolic since it on applies to 10% of all criminals in the US(federal only) a small step in the right direction for Jared Kushner.
Now if he could only speak out and propose legislation re his bigot, rabble rousing, pathological liar, de facto Russian spy, admitted sexual predator, philanderer, ego maniac demagogue father in law, Trump.
3
@Paul I believe Kushner shares all those same qualities.
2
@Philip W-Bingo! Therein lies the problem.
1
Mr. Booker looks so proud.
Does the legislation prohibit owners, operators, personnel, management, controlling investor groups, and other related parties, directly or indirectly, from receiving federal status, funding and resources, if there is a history of any type workplace harassment, discrimination or any violations of public trust?
This bit of good news should not obscure the fact that Senator McConnell had effectively throttled efforts at its passage. This for a bill that was supported by the vast majority of his colleagues as well as by Trump. McConnell is the most antidemocratic Senate Speaker in memory. We voters would like to know why he opposed this bill.
23
@Salvatore Because he is openly racist and makes no qualms about it. We know this from his statements about President Obama. But his time's up. We have you in our cross-hairs Mitch. And we will be out canvassing to get you out of the Senate in 2020.
6
It is a nice thing to finally overhaul the criminal justice system, at least on the Federal level. But since the vast majority of the incarcerated are in the State prison system this bill will do nothing for them. And even if more States were to adopt these changes it will still do nothing in regards to the stigma attached to former prisoners. All we will have are thousands upon thousands of more individuals who are denied employment and housing because of former criminal convictions. Until the corporations that now run the world change their perception of ex-convicts communities will only get worse before they ever get better. You will have thousands of people returning to crime because of that box on an employment application that asks if you have ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, and more homeless due to the same box. Much more needs to be done before anything gets better. The vast majority of people who are released from prison who have the greatest of intentions to lead a productive life and become a respected member of the community find the road filled with barriers to obtaining that desire. Most pay for their crimes for the rest of their lives. This is especially true for those convicted of even the most minor of sexually related crimes due to a broken system and a sex offender list that does not distinguish between the violent offender (rapist/child molester) and those with minor offenses (unwittingly sleeping with someone underage/Romeo and Juliet).
6
According to government statistics, federal prisoners who are released have a 44% recidivism rate after 5 years. So, if this program releases 50,000 criminals, within 5 years about 22,000 of them will commit a crime again.
I wonder if anyone gave thought to what it means to reduce sentences and allow convicted criminals—including violent offenders and sex offenders—to run loose in our communities. Who is responsible for post-release crimes by those released early? An apology to their future victims will be of small consolation to those harmed; why doesn’t the new law provide compensation for the past and future victims of these criminals?
Virtually all criminals have not been forced but have chosen to commit their crimes. There is such a thing as free will; don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.
Are you aware that the prison industrial complex has actually bribed judges to hand out jail time for trivial offenses like littering? Do you really think this issue boils down to the simplistic mantra you cite? When racism and poverty are directly baked into outcomes? There are corporate interests here that are directly opposed to the public interest, and they needed to be confronted.
5
@Xoxarle I would like to see as much concern, care and attention focused on the victims of crime. You know, coddling the victims.
The only reason the Koch Brothers supported this bill was to have enough labor to work for them! These guys have done more to derail American Democracy and undermine the will of the people than any other organization. The passing of Citizens United to pave the way for unlimited contributions to PAC's in order to subvert the political direction is their doing. Master puppeteers these guys are.
4
Thrilled that a first step in much-needed reform on this front has occurred. Floored that this language laying out the many crimes that make a prisoner ineligible for time credits is this one: "relating to intentionally killing or attempting to kill an unborn child." Republicans will stop at nothing to insert language that give legal status to embryos, chipping away at a woman's rights to choose.
7
The new legislation "would expand job training and other programs aimed at reducing recidivism." I am touting the Bard Prison Program today. The recidivism rate for people who have received an excellent education and a Bard College degree through this program is virtually zero. Education--real education that goes beyond training prisoners for low wage jobs--is a powerful solution. Prisons ended many college programs in the 1990s, when federal legislation ended prisoners' ability to qualify for funding for college education. Let's get college programs back into prisons. What is more, Bard Prison Initiative now provides quality college education outside of prisons, in libraries and programs for homeless families--giving vulnerable people valuable alternatives for their lives. A great model!
21
@Margot Let me see if I get this right:
Grant early release to prisoners (including violent offenders and rapists) and send them to college to get a degree so they won't commit any more crimes.
Wouldn't it be better to send them to college before they commit the crimes that land them in prison?
And who will pay for this education? Oh, of course, the taxpayers.
And who will pay compensation for the victims of these criminals? Surely not the criminals themselves, that would be too punitive. Oh, I see, the geniuses who wrote this legislation didn't care about the rights and compensation of the victims.
@Mon Ray Alternatively, how many of us would have done better in college if we'd been in prison and stayed focus? It is probably a reasonable generalization to say most criminals are not ready emotionally ready to buckle down and study.
3
This bill will reform ten sentencing, parole, and job training for nonviolent offenders. Besides bipartisan support, Trump came around to supporting it when it became obvious his entire administration, including his family, would directly benefit from the bill.
26
This bill, as all bills imperfect, is a big & important step in the right direction. Both R's and D's should justifiably take pride in passing legislation that is actually in the best interest of the American people. I confess to being moving by the bipartisanship exhibited by Senators Booker and Grassley. In some ways this bill is reminiscent of how DC used to work for the public good - the D's serving as the nation's conscience, idealism & optimism and the R's serving as its fiscal prudence. It'd be nice if congress could find its way to working for America more often.
34
Now all Trump’s cronies are going to prison we finally get prison reform. STIFF SENTENCES FOR WHITE COLLAR CRIME!
58
Hooray for this small step. As with the Civil Right acts let’s see it lead to bigger ones. POTUS says he will sign it. Hope he does not change his mind.
3
While I applaud this rare return to bi-partisan rationality---I do not see how this works for Trump politically. Trump's entire worldview is demonizing the other and telling his base how tough he will be on criminal elements---remember, here is the man who continues to believe that the Central Park 5 should have been electrocuted. His entire campaign revolved around locking up Sec. Clinton. Now, he is ready to go before his base and tell them he is the architect of criminal justice reform. Not that he even knows what was in the bill---at this point in his administration he needs a win, any kind of win. But, like his tax cut, I doubt, this win will even be brought up at his rally's. If anything, Trump's base would look at this bill as a promise not kept.
12
McConnell very nearly killed this legislation by making the claim that the Senate had enough to do chewing gum while walking down the halls before Christmas. Nice job, Mitch, reluctantly bringing legislation to the floor that the Senate could easily pass and demonstrate that their collective synapses on the Senate floor can work on more than two things at a time.
28
Funny cheering congress for doing the job they were elected to do. But I can’t help think if they would invest before the crimes are committed what would be different. It’s like putting the horse in front of the cart. Invest in the education and stop the cycle.
47
Perhaps taking the profit motive out of prisons would also be a good thing...I understand that former AG Jess Sessions had major investments in for profit prisons...not everything should have a "profit center" particularly prisons. Move out the petty criminals and put the drug addicts into treatment and make a lot of room for the real criminals who are currently in our govt starting w/ the Trump administration and all those who have been part of the biggest looting of US tax payer $ and our national assets & environmental treasures and every one who accepted Russian/foreign $ of course...the looting continues...how much longer will this go on? God bless Robert Mueller....a true American hero.
15
Prisoners formally sentenced for “nonviolent” crimes or for “possession” have almost always taken plea bargains because they have, in fact, committed violent or drug sale crimes.
Ta Nehisi Coates and Michelle Alexander know this, but they do not tell you.
2
Commendable though the bipartisan push to reform the criminal justice system yet the real test to measure the success of this prison and sentencing laws overhaul initiative will be whether the states too follow the spirit and intention behind this federal legislation while enforcing criminal justice at their level?
2
Hoorah! They were actually governing for a change.
5
Let’s not allow the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Against all odds, against the headwinds of special interest and partisan warfare, despite the distraction of rampant corruption and an Executive Branch run amuck, the Legislative Branch actually...worked. Not too many years ago this bill would have been pedestrian, hardly worthy of notice. Not so today. Today it feels as special as snow on Christmas morning.
So let’s raise a glass of holiday cheer and toast the efforts of Senators Booker and Grassely. For just a moment let’s give ourselves over to the optimistic belief that we can Make America function Again.
30
For the love of God, sometimes it's not about Trump. Can some the commenters read history and just be happy that this was addressed and passed. It's gotten to the point that we can't even be positive on a positive occasion.
18
Now we in Vermont can hope our state will follow federal guidelines, particularly the new federal requirement that prisoners be housed no more than 500 miles from home. Vermont currently sends more than 200 prisoners to the private prison giant CoreCivic in Mississippi. What chance is there for rehabilitation when incarcerated persons are denied close family contact?
152
@Susan Ohanian And how about the victims who were harmed by these offenders, and those persons who will be harmed by them after release (44% federal recidivism rate over 5 years)?
The bill conspicuously does not include funds for compensating past and future victims of these convicted criminals.
1
@Susan Ohanian
Is there an Amrerican state more white aka color aka race than Vermont?
1
A good step, a much needed overhaul of our draconian criminal justice system, even if not as good as that proposed by President Obama in 2015. Now let's move on to liberalize our immigration policy, offer full citizenship to DACA young people, give each person seeking asylum respect and a fair hearing, and not incarcerate and separate parents and children seeking refuge from the dangers of life in their home countries.
37
@Barbara Alexandra Ocasio Cortez for President!
Free everything for everyone, especially foreigners who enter the US illegally.
As Margaret Thatcher so aptly put it, "Socialism is great until you run out of other people's money."
P.S. I know, Ms. Ocasio Cortez will be too young to run for President in 2020, let's just change the Constitution.
Much ado about not much. The changes, too minor to be called reforms, apply only to Federal facilities and does not address the ingrained racism and inequality that permeates the justice system. If only Trump's son-in-law and a reality star would lobby for a broader approach, maybe real reforms will be examined and approved.
13
Just in time for the Trumps and Kushner to enjoy the benefits of reduced incarceration terms.
157
@Jake I know, it's imperative to bash Trump, kind of a knee-jerk reaction after 2 years of madness.
But has anyone noticed that this bill allows early release of some sex offenders and violent offenders? How can this possibly make America safer?
And how about the victims who were harmed by these offenders, and will be harmed by them after release (44% federal recidivism rate over 5 years)? The bill conspicuously does not include funds for compensating past and future victims of these convicted criminals.
2
This is a great step forward.
In this era of fake news and its gigantic influence on what happens in DC, the job of MSM has to fundamentally change, however.
You can't continue to report on the passage of a bill the way it has been have done for decades, as this article is doing, all while merely refuting fake news, and then hope that everything will be fine. It won't.
What we need is real explanations of how a bill got passed, including all the emotion that went into it - rather than just reporting the (by definition heavily emotionally charged) fake news and "coldly" debunking it.
WHY is this personal to Cory Booker, for instance, and what is he feeling more precisely, and why is he feeling like that? And why is someone totally different such as Sen. Grassley so happy too?
When lawmakers are celebrating, ordinary citizens have to be able to do so too, and you cannot possible do so based on reading this article alone.
And without celebrating every step forward in DC, people will inevitably evaluate politicians in terms of likeability as a person and the ideals they talk about, to then systematically be disappointed when once elected they can't sign those ideals into law but have to work in a democratic way, which necessarily means step by step change, election after election.
Only when journalists systematically include celebrating important steps forward in their reports will the other 50% of the American people start voting too, and that's when corruption ends.
5
@Ana Luisa
At first I wasn't sure were you were going, but I think I get it, and I agree that reporting on the specific ways the bill will impact individuals and communities would make it more meaningful and impactful. There are many stories of people and families devastated by the "war on drugs," for example, who may find this a way to begin to heal. It is unfortunate that it is not retroactive.
5
@Michael Banks
That's what I was trying to say indeed.
"Politics" isn't just about passing bills and advancing the careers of politicians, it's about real-life change, and it can only happen after a very specific kind of work has been done.
MSM systematically don't report on that work, so for many people, it's as if it simply doesn't exist, whereas what has been CRUCIAL here, as with every bill that improves things for ordinary citizens, is strong, relentless grassroots activity on this issue, who worked together with non-profits, called or wrote to their Congressmen/women, etc.
Simultaneously, those who introduced the bill had to work together in a very specific way, literally fabricating a compromise, and then gathering enough votes to get it passed.
HOW do you do so, and who did what why?
Most citizens (me included) ignore how this works, whereas it's the very essence of the job of a lawmaker, and it explains who is celebrating right now. And without knowing this, we can read this article and approve of the passage of the bill, but we lack all the crucial information to FEEL what this was all about and how it ame to pass.
And without having strong feelings about process, it's very easy, as ordinary citizen, to fall for fake news (the only "strong feelings" left in MSM), or become cynical and no longer vote, of prioritize the "charisma" of a candidate rather than concrete policies. And that's how "we the people" time and again lose elections ...
5
It's about time. Republicans stalled this bill for years, refusing to move on it while President Obama was in office. Now hopefully Ryan can rally the troops in the House, and it will go to Trump. Let's cross our fingers that he actually sticks to what he said and signs it.
5
While I wish this new bill would have struck down Clinton's 3- strikes all together, this is progress in the right direction. It is good to see a shift to reform instead of just punishment. We also need more programs that help the people who are in prison stay connected with their families. We also need more programs for incarcerated pregnant women like the ones in Illinois that allow newborns to stay with their mothers instead of having them ripped from their arms 48 hours after birth.
It is good to see this shift in both policy and bi-partisanship. Makes me wonder for a second if Trump felt he had to "burn the village to save it". Naw, he's just like a broken digital clock, right once a day.
79
This is great news for America. However, speaking of the Republican votes, I can't help but think of an abusive parent who, after years of beating you, suddenly buys you that toy you want to make up for it....
28
@Aaron Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Bill and Hillary Clinton (you know, those champions of the down-trodden) put the previous sentencing guidelines in place? I seem to recall some talk about "super predators" and "triangulation" being associated with them. It might explain why Hillary did relatively poorly with black voters in 2016. They probably had a better idea who the abusive parent really was despite the fairy tale you'e telling.
12
@Earl W.
Hillary was not President. So no, Bill and Hillary did not put the present guidelines in place.
7
@matty Sorry, but "you get two for the price of one" says otherwise. Either Hillary Clinton was just the First Lady or she has years of White House experience to bolster her candidacy, but she (and you) can't have it both ways.
4
Honestly, shame on the NYT for putting this in the politics section and not with a banner headline above the fold. This is one of the few truly bright spots of bipartisanship of this congress and it is being treated as an afterthought. Liberals (including me) need to know that this common sense bill passed with massive bipartisan support, Washignton can work if the pressure is great enough. I am not defending the republicans who worked overtime to block Obama doing this several years ago, but a step in the right direction needs to be commened. What a great gift to the American people before the holidays.
103
Read the bill before you extol it. It's
A baby step, no, a first crawl. It hardly addresses recidivism and will do almost nothing for high incarceration levels.
14
@WLR perfection is the enemy of progress.
3
@WLR How about avoid prison by not harming others? Why do liberals never suggest that solution to "high incarceration levels"? Why do liberals care so little about crime VICTIMS?
2
Forgive me for being skeptical, but I still don’t trust a word Trump says and I fully expect him to change his mind and condemn the bill as soon as someone on Fox News criticizes it.
60
I agree and in itself(read it!) the bill is hardly a baby step.
2