President Trump signed a landmark package of criminal justice reforms Friday, a rare bipartisan achievement notched even as the two parties are battling over spending bills and headed for a government shutdown.
“It has been many, many years. Numerous decades, and nobody came close,” Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing event.
An ideologically diverse group attended the bill signing, including evangelical leader Franklin Graham, Democratic activist Van Jones, and Koch Industries general counsel Mark Holden.
“I look behind me and I say this is a cross section of everybody in our country,” Trump said, extending a brief thank-you to congressional Democratic leaders, whom he blamed during the same event for a possible shutdown over wall funds.
“I want to thank Nancy and Chuck, as I say, affectionately,” he said.
Trump unveiled the final version of the First Step Act at the White House last month, calling it “the right thing to do.” The legislation divided Republicans, however, and was nearly blocked by dissenters led by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who argued it would make the country less safe.
[Opinion: Trump is right to embrace criminal justice reform]
Trump ran for office on a law-and-order platform, but as president has mused about criminal system unfairness, saying in October that “a lot of people” are in prison for “no reason.” The National Fraternal Order of Police and some other law enforcement groups ultimately supported the bill, but other groups including the National Sheriff’s Association opposed it.
Trump publicly pushed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to allow a vote, despite GOP divisions. Supporters feared the bill would fail next year, when Democrats retake the House, potentially upsetting a delicate consensus.
The bill passed in landslide votes this week — 87-12 in the Senate on Tuesday, and 358-36 in the House on Thursday.
Today, it was my great honor to sign the #FirstStepAct – a monumental bi-partisan win for the American people! https://t.co/isy6Bt38iK
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 21, 2018
The act bans shackling jailed pregnant women and requires that prisoners be housed within 500 miles of their family. Some provisions allow earlier release, including an expansion of annual good time credit, from 47 days to 54 days a year off sentences, which applies retroactively.
The new law also allows nonviolent offenders to earn up to 10 days of credit for each 30 days of participation in anti-recidivism programs, potentially letting inmates spend a quarter of sentences in halfway houses or under house arrest. Supporters say similar efforts save money and decrease recidivism in states. Skeptics argue that federal offenders are among the worst criminals and most likely to begin committed crimes again, and that the Federal Bureau of Prisons may not replicate state-level successes.
Major sentencing reforms include an expanded “safety valve” to allow judges to deviate from harsh penalties, retroactive reductions for crack cocaine sentences, limits on a gun sentencing enhancement, and elimination of a three-strikes life sentence for drug crimes
