Trump takes a second step in the right direction on criminal justice reform

If the first step was getting more people out of prison, the second step is helping those people get jobs — and that’s exactly what President Trump said he plans on doing. That’s great and lawmakers should waste no time in backing up the president’s actions with robust legislation.

Speaking during an event billed as a celebration of the FIRST STEP Act, President Trump championed the bipartisan legislation passed by Congress and signed into law in December. With better access to drug treatment programs, more pathways for early release, some sentencing reform and provisions for elderly, ill and others to serve sentences at home, the goal of the bill has already made a difference.