WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced his support for the first major rewrite of the nation's criminal justice sentencing laws in a generation.
"Today I'm thrilled to announce my support for this bipartisan bill that will make our communities safer and give former inmates a second chance at life after they have served their time," Trump said at the White House, hailing the deal as proof that "true bipartisanship is possible."
Lawmakers reached an agreement this week on the bipartisan legislation that would boost rehabilitation efforts for federal prisoners and give judges more discretion when sentencing nonviolent offenders, particularly for drug offenses.
Criminal justice reform has been a priority of Trump's son-in-law, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, who has been working on the issue for months. Trump pushed for swift passage of the legislation, potentially during the lame-duck session of Congress.
"I'll be waiting with a pen," he said.
Is there a downside? Of course. There always is one, this time:
The House approved a prison reform bill in May, but the Senate package makes additional changes and adds the sentencing component.
The Senate approach would allow thousands of federal prisoners sentenced for crack cocaine offenses before August 2010 the opportunity to petition for a reduced penalty. It would also lower mandatory minimum sentences for some drug offenses. The life sentence for some drug offenders with three convictions, or "three strikes," would be reduced to 25 years.
Roughly 90 percent of prison inmates are held in state facilities and would not be affected by the legislation.
It's like DC tax cutting - at most ten percent benefit. We have a fortunate minority sitting in unfortunate circumstances -- in the slammer. But at least it is a federal slammer for the luckier ones.