We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.
KUSHNER LOBBYING SENATE IN SUPPORT OF FIRST STEP ACT
It’s not like there isn’t any turmoil in Washington this week, with crying kids in cages all along the Rio Grande, Paul Manafort in a cage somewhere in Virginia, and a state supreme court chief justice being fitted for a cage by the Feds. But there remains legislative work to be done, and Jared Kushner – while not a legislator – has been doing it.
Kushner met with Senators on Capitol Hill last week to whip support for the White House-backed FIRST STEP Act (H.R. 5682) (an acronym for the unwieldy “Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act“) that passed in the House last month. But despite his efforts (as well as editorial support for FIRST STEP and the Sentence Reform and Corrections Act [S.1917] appearing in both left- and right-leaning publications this week), Congress appears to be watching the unfolding immigration “family separation” situation like mesmerized NASCAR fans watching a five-car pileup.
Senators Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), Kamala Harris (D-California) and Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) remain adamantly opposed to any bill that does not modify mandatory minimums. Nevertheless, the conservative Koch-backed group Freedom Partners announced last week that it was embarking on a spending pitch urging senators to support FIRST STEP despite Republican disagreement. The first round of mailings from Freedom Partners targets 15 Democratic senators and two Republicans: Grassley and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).
CNN commentator Van Jones, a progressive who founded the criminal justice reform advocacy group #cut50, has been working closely with Kushner urging passage of prison reform. He told The Marshall Project this week:
Where is this strong bipartisan coalition for sentencing reform [that some claim exists]? I know that they were able to get the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act out of committee in judiciary, which is good on the Senate side, but there is zero chance that that bill is going to be brought for a vote by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in its present form, and there’s not even a strategy to get McConnell to check it out, that I can tell. A lot of the Republicans do want sentencing reform, but they can’t start there with a critical mass of their other colleagues.
An opinion piece in The Hill last week noted that “the problem of prison overcrowding and systemic biases against African Americans cannot be solved by presidential pardons alone. Nonetheless, Trump’s attention to these issues might help drive reforms through legislation and prosecutorial decisions. Significant criminal justice reforms are necessary, beginning with addressing the root causes of offending, which include mental illness and lack of family, education, employment and/or social opportunities.”
Axios, Kushner whipping support for prison reform in the Senate (Jun. 12, 2018)
The Hill, Criminal justice reform in the era of reality TV-style government (Jun. 13, 2018)
Politico, Koch group unveils six-figure prison reform campaign (June 11, 2018)
– Thomas L. Root
