But in a reference to the tough-on-crime policies embraced by President Bill Clinton, Mr. Trump also said that the legislation would begin to roll back portions of the “Clinton crime bill” that had a “very disproportionate and very unfair” effect on black Americans. The other half of the proposed bill creates a package of incentives and new programs aimed at improving prison conditions and preparing prisoners for re-entry into their communities. Generally speaking, those Democrats who held out did so on the principle that criminal justice reform legislation must include sentencing reform. At a bipartisan forum on criminal justice reform at the White House, the president promised he would sign the First Step Act. The Fraternal Order of Police, the country’s largest police organization, said last Friday that it would support the bill, and the National Sheriffs’ Association appeared to have dropped some previous objections after exceptions were made to block certain fentanyl offenders from eligibility for “good-time credits” included in the prison overhaul portion of the bill. The official said Trump was briefed on the deal and plans to support it publicly during an event at the White House Wednesday afternoon. Lawmakers reached agreement this week on legislation that would boost rehabilitation efforts for federal prisoners and give judges more discretion when sentencing nonviolent offenders, particularly for drug offenses.
– "Did I hear the word bipartisan?" President Trump asked Wednesday as he announced his support for a major reform of prison and sentencing laws. The First Step Act, which the AP calls the "first major rewrite of the nation's criminal justice sentencing laws in a generation," was created by a bipartisan group of senators and will remove some of the harsher minimum sentencing laws passed in the 1990s. "We're all better off when former inmates can re-enter society as law-abiding, productive citizens," Trump said. "Americans from across the political spectrum can unite around prison reform legislation that will reduce crime while giving our fellow citizens a chance at redemption." The bill, which builds on one the House passed in May, includes a boost to rehabilitation efforts for federal prisoners and bans practices including the shackling of pregnant women, the Guardian reports. It's not clear whether it will go to a vote during the lame-duck session of Congress, though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says it will go to the floor if 60 votes can be guaranteed—depending on how it "stacks up" with other priorities. The bill is opposed by some conservatives, though its broad range of support includes both the ACLU and the Koch brothers, the New York Times reports. It earned the support of the national Fraternal Order of Police last week. (Last year, Jeff Sessions brought back tougher drug sentences.)