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@maggieNYT Where to begin? If you asked the President today what was in the First Step Act he couldn’t tell you. Every person released under it is a victory against a system that eats lives, but it is a modest victory at best. But first a bit on who gets credit for what.
@maggieNYT The bill initially left out items I & others deemed essential. Relief on mandatory minimums first. Good time credits & release on the back end must be paired w/ending practices that force ppl in for long periods. This was the view of @NAACP_LDF & some other civil rts groups.
@maggieNYT @NAACP_LDF Another sticking point was retroactivity for the Fair Sentencing Act which in 2010 reduced the crack/powder sentencing disparity from 100/1 to 18/1 but was not retroactive to provide relief to those incarcerated under 100/1. We demanded retroactivity.
@maggieNYT @NAACP_LDF Next real concerns w racial bias in the use of risk assessment instruments used to evaluate potential release. Didn’t get those out but some safeguards were added. But here’s the key:
@maggieNYT @NAACP_LDF Fortunately there was a bipartisan coalition of Senators who stood strong on this view FOR YEARS. @CoryBooker @SenatorDurbin @ChuckGrassley and @SenKamalaHarris were terrific. They made that bill stronger in ways that allowed many of us to support it.
@maggieNYT @NAACP_LDF @CoryBooker @SenatorDurbin @ChuckGrassley @SenKamalaHarris The President’s commitment to the bill he now brags about can best be assessed by the fact that he allocated no funding for it in his 2020 budget. brennancenter.org/blog/trump-bud…
@maggieNYT @NAACP_LDF @CoryBooker @SenatorDurbin @ChuckGrassley @SenKamalaHarris It took advocates again to push him to fund the initiative. washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…
@maggieNYT @NAACP_LDF @CoryBooker @SenatorDurbin @ChuckGrassley @SenKamalaHarris But even at best, THIS BILL IS NOT CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM. The federal system is a fraction of the CJ system.But even w/i the fed. system, this Admin pursues policies that ramp up incarceration like abandoning Smart on Crime & allowing the AG to require charging to the fullest.
@maggieNYT @NAACP_LDF @CoryBooker @SenatorDurbin @ChuckGrassley @SenKamalaHarris AG Sessions and now Barr have decided they will no longer pursue pattern & practice investigations of unconstitutional policing. Instead they filed a statement of interest to try & scuttle reform in Chicago & tried to stall the Baltimore consent decree.
@maggieNYT @NAACP_LDF @CoryBooker @SenatorDurbin @ChuckGrassley @SenKamalaHarris Trump’s Admin reversed the Obama Admin DOJ’s move away from private prisons announced by Sally Yates and instead has greatly expanded their use. govexec.com/management/201…
@maggieNYT @NAACP_LDF @CoryBooker @SenatorDurbin @ChuckGrassley @SenKamalaHarris Criminal justice reform includes addressing illegal conduct by law enforcement that criminalizes innocent ppl and engages in racial bias. Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio is an unrepentent racist found by fed courts to engage in unconstitutional racial profiling & mistreatment.
@maggieNYT @NAACP_LDF @CoryBooker @SenatorDurbin @ChuckGrassley @SenKamalaHarris The President pardoned Arpaio and paraded him around as “a great patriot” - one of the vilest acts of his presidency. It is an obscenity to suggest that this President has “done criminal justice reform.”
@maggieNYT @NAACP_LDF @CoryBooker @SenatorDurbin @ChuckGrassley @SenKamalaHarris Ppl like @johnlegend & every advocate who works deeply on real reform knows that real CJ reform means addressing practices in state and local jails where 2million pol are incarcerated (200,000 in the federal system).
@maggieNYT @NAACP_LDF @CoryBooker @SenatorDurbin @ChuckGrassley @SenKamalaHarris @johnlegend We know that real reform includes: prosecutor practices, policing reform, marijuana reform, expungements, sentencing reform, ending cash bail, fines & fees, parole reform, reentry. We support measures that restore freedom & dignity to those wrongly or overly incarcerated.
@maggieNYT @NAACP_LDF @CoryBooker @SenatorDurbin @ChuckGrassley @SenKamalaHarris @johnlegend The President’s claim is silly & transparent.And frankly his flouting of the law as it applies to his own conduct & that of his Admin is an insult to every incarcerated person who has had the full weight of the cj system marshalled against them for even the smallest infractions.
@maggieNYT @NAACP_LDF @CoryBooker @SenatorDurbin @ChuckGrassley @SenKamalaHarris @johnlegend I could go on, but I’ll leave it there.
