By Nicholas Fandos . . . The Senate overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday the most substantial changes in a generation to the tough-on-crime prison and sentencing laws that ballooned the federal prison population and created a criminal justice system that many conservatives and liberals view as costly and unfair. The First Step Act would expand job training and other programming aimed at reducing…
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Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas is working hard to influence his fellow Republicans from supporting a bi-partisan prison reform initiative. He is dividing the Republican caucus, claiming that senators who are in support of the act will be helping sex offenders, a tactic known to kill an opponent’s political career. The First Step Act is criminal justice reform legislation supported by legislators…
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By Sandy . . . The First Step Act, now pending in the U.S. Senate, has been described as “a bipartisan-supported bill,” “an important but…modest first-step” toward desperately needed criminal justice reform. It is supported by legislators of both parties and by the President. Modest is correct; the bill would only apply to 1.5 percent of those in federal prisons, and…
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