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Nov. 14, 2018 / 10:19 PM GMT / Updated 11:06 PM GMT
By Jonathan Allen
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pledged his support for a major overhaul of sentencing laws and prisoner re-entry programs at the White House on Wednesday.
Trump’s backing for the package, which is still being drafted in the Senate, has been seen as a key factor in providing political cover for Republicans and Democrats to vote for an overhaul that would diminish criminal penalties for some offenders and make it easier for former inmates to find work.
Trump framed a planned reduction in certain mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses and other proposed sentencing provisions as a bid to fix President Bill Clinton’s 1994 anti-crime law.
“It rolls back some of the provisions of the Clinton crime law that disproportionately harmed [the] African-American community,” Trump said at a White House event.
At the same time, he praised a bipartisan push for re-evaluating criminal justice issues — even though none of the lawmakers who joined him at the White House were Democrats.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who attended the event, and Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., who did not, released a joint statement praising Trump’s position following his remarks.
“President Trump’s endorsement of the bipartisan criminal justice reform compromise is an important step in our shared effort to promote safe communities and improve justice,” they said. “By preparing inmates bound for release to become productive citizens, we can reduce crime and the social and economic cost of incarceration. And by ensuring that punishments fit the crimes, we can better balance the scales of justice.”
The House passed a piece of the proposal earlier this year with 360 votes — including 226 Republicans and 134 Democrats.
The deal emerging in the Senate would include a retroactive application of a 2010 law designed to create greater parity in sentencing for crack and powder cocaine convictions.
Trump thanked his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has been the White House point person on its delayed criminal justice reform efforts.
“He feels very deeply about it,” Trump said.