One of the best things Donald Trump and his administration did was their work on sentencing reform. His DOJ took a look at prison sentences and found than in certain cases they were unfair, draconian, and arbitrary. The president led the way in reforming that situation. It was superb leadership. It also had disproportionately positive consequences for minority communities.

Which brings up a larger question. Combine that with high minority employment numbers and the case for Trump as a racist falls flat. The reason the Left shrieked that canard is because the race card is their go to mantra. Also, they were terrified Trump would make even more inroads with minority groups. So, how does sentencing reform fare today? Mark Holden and Jason Pye have answers.

Holden and Pye: In 2018, President Donald Trump signed the First Step Act into law. This was a generational shift on corrections and sentencing policy preceded by years of work in Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas, led by leaders Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Tim Scott (R-SC).

We are proud of the work we did to help them on the First Step Act and believe Congress should immediately take more steps to continue to reform overly harsh federal prison sentences and build on President Trump’s record. Since the signing of the First Step Act, the conservative movement has become a leader in criminal justice reform. What could be more conservative than fixing the features in our justice system that promote unequal punishment, inhibit work, waste taxpayer money and law enforcement resources? Voters, Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike, also believe in criminal justice reform and want these issues to be fixed.

A survey conducted in July by Public Opinion Strategies showed that 67 percent of Iowa voters, for example, believe that too many low-level drug offenders are in prisons. The poll also reflected support for eliminating mandatory minimum prison sentences and having government resources focus more on treating those with addictions instead of prosecuting them. The First Step Implementation Act, a bill introduced in Congress by Senator Grassley and Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Don Bacon (R-NE) advances the goals of the First Step Act by addressing all these issues. The bill will implement previous criminal justice reform legislation by providing treatment against drug abuse, fixing unjust mandatory minimum sentences, while saving taxpayer money…

As conservatives, we must continue to establish ourselves as leaders in criminal justice reform. It is a proven political winner, judging from President Trump`s expanded GOP coalition, especially black voters, who cited his support for criminal justice reform as a reason for their vote. It is a proper platform to assert conservative principles. Our system is badly broken, and we can use our values of public safety, restraining costs, small government, equality and due process to help fix it.

 

For more from David Kamioner read him at davidkamioner.substack.com