Trump, Booker Find Common Ground On Criminal Justice Reform

“Our whole nation benefits if former inmates are able to reenter society as productive, law-abiding citizens.”

Nope... that’s not a quote from U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, one of the state’s most recognizable Democratic icons, although he's been an ardent supporter of the concept. The above call for criminal justice reform came from President Donald Trump, who along with Booker and other members of the U.S. Senate, have thrown their support behind the federal “First Step Act.”

Learn more about the bill here.

The recent ideological common ground between Trump and Booker was reached amid an increasingly bitter war of the words between the two political heavyweights.

The Republican president has repeatedly mocked Booker, the former mayor of Newark, for “running the city into the ground” during his tenure, as well as his “Spartacus” moment, when the senator threatened to release pre-approved documents regarding Brett Kavanaugh's past on the third day of the judge's Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

Booker, meanwhile, has been a consistent critic of Trump and his administration, blasting his record on issues such as tax reform, immigration and the environment. Booker recently said that he will “consider running for president” in 2020 against Trump.

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THE FIRST STEP: KEEPING PRISONERS OUT OF JAIL

The First Step Act would expand job training and other programs that reduce recidivism rates among federal prisoners. It would also expand early-release programs and change sentencing laws, including mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, The New York Times reported.

A Fox News report praised the bi-partisan bill, stating that “does many wonderful things.”

Fox News wrote:

“[The bill] reduces sentences for drug felonies and other non-violent crimes, prevents the use of restraints on pregnant prisoners during childbirth, and limits the disparity in sentences dealing with crack and powder cocaine. This last provision could benefit thousands of federal prisoners. The bill also allows prisoners to earn ‘good time credits’ to reduce their time in prison if they participate in educational and other programs designed to prepare them for life outside prison so they don’t commit more crimes after they are released – and wind up back in prison.”

The bill overwhelmingly passed the senate on Tuesday, Nov. 18. It still has to survive a vote from the U.S. House of Representatives and gain Trump’s signature before becoming law.

However, house leaders have said that they intend to pass the bill this week. A previous version of the legislation passed the house 360-59 in May before a different version of the bill was introduced in the senate.

The president has also been a vocal supporter of the First Step Act, calling it a “historic” effort.

Trump tweeted:

“America is the greatest Country in the world and my job is to fight for ALL citizens, even those who have made mistakes. Congratulations to the Senate on the bi-partisan passing of a historic Criminal Justice Reform Bill. This will keep our communities safer, and provide hope and a second chance, to those who earn it. In addition to everything else, billions of dollars will be saved. I look forward to signing this into law!”

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Trump’s enthusiastic support for the First Step Act was matched by Booker, the former mayor of Newark, New Jersey, one of the original co-sponsors of the bill.

“Our country’s criminal justice system is broken – and it has been broken for decades,” said Booker, who pushed for the inclusion of key sentencing reform provisions in the potential law.

“You cannot deny justice to any American without it affecting all Americans,” Booker charged. “That’s why the passage of the First Step Act tonight is so meaningful – it begins to right past wrongs that continue to deny justice to millions of Americans.”

The senator said that while the bill is only the beginning of a long effort to “restore justice” to the justice system, it’s a step forward.

“For the first time in a long time, with the passage of this bill into law, our country will make a meaningful break from the decades of failed policies that led to mass incarceration, which has cost taxpayers billions of dollars, drained our economy, compromised public safety, hurt our children, and disproportionately harmed communities of color while devaluing the very idea of justice in America,” Booker said.

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In November, the White House published a fact sheet titled “President Donald J. Trump Calls on Congress to Pass the First Step Act.”

The White House briefing stated that the bill “enjoys widespread support across the political spectrum,” and that Republicans and Democrats in the Senate worked with the White House to craft a bipartisan sentencing reform compromise, which has been added to the legislation.

“Today, one in three American adults has some type of criminal record and more than two million Americans are in prisons, including 181,000 in federal prison,” the White House stated. “More than 95% of these prisoners will eventually leave prison and face the challenge of restarting and reintegrating their lives.”

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Kara Gotsch, the director of strategic initiatives at The Sentencing Project, said that the senate’s passage of the First Step Act was an important milestone in the long road to ending mass incarceration.

“Thousands of people will encounter a federal criminal justice system that is fairer and more humane because of the changes in the First Step Act,” Gotsch said. “I applaud the senate but urge them to do more to ensure that people who present little threat to the public have an opportunity to return home, that prisons are transformed by shrinking populations, and that racial disparity in the system is eradicated.”

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Photo 1: White House official image by Andrea Hanks

Photo 2: booker.senate.gov