Harris and Warren, eyeing 2020, unsure whether to support Trump-backed prison reform

[dukkha]

Presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential candidates currently in Congress are unsure whether to support President Trump-backed criminal justice reform, even as progressive groups endorse it.

For Democrats the question is whether the White House should be getting credit on an issue that until very recently was part of the Democratic platform.

The First Step Act, which would still need to pass the Senate, would overhaul the country’s criminal justice sentencing for the first time in a generation and support rehabilitation efforts for federal prisoners. It also would allow judges to exercise more discretion when sentencing nonviolent offenders, particularly for drug offenses

Prison reform groups particularly welcome the bill because it would reform the federal "three strikes" rule that mandates a life sentence for three or more convictions. Under the new legislation, the convictions would trigger a 25-year sentence instead.

TRUMP-BACKED PRISON REFORM BILL TO OVERHAUL CONTROVERSIAL 'THREE STRIKES' RULE

But U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are unsure they will give their nod to the bill when it comes time to vote.

Harris, who recently said she will make her decision whether to run in 2020 during the upcoming holiday season, said she’s still considering whether to support the bill.

She told the Hill that she’s balancing the “ideal” against not letting “perfect be the enemy of the good.”

She also signed off on a joint statement in May, saying “Make no mistake: the FIRST STEP Act is not meaningful criminal justice reform, and would be a step backward from our shared goal of ending America’s mass incarceration crisis.”

The statement was also co-signed by another likely 2020 presidential candidate, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. Last month, he released a statement saying he supports it due to the changes made in the Senate’s version of the bill.

Warren, meanwhile, said she’s also unsure about supporting the legislation, indicating that her opposition is due to the bill not going far enough.

“We’re still looking at the details. Overall, it’s not nearly as comprehensive as we need but it appears to be an important first step,” she said, according to the Hill. “I’ve heard from groups who are pleased that there has been some effort made and other groups that are sharply disappointed they can’t do more.”

mong the supporters of the bill are the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Sentencing Project, and #cut50, an organization founded by Van Jones, who worked with the Trump administration on the proposal.

Despite that, other Democrats are wary of supporting the bill after Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin made a few concessions in an effort to appease Republicans who were on the fence.

“We’re trying to figure out how to expand that list,” Durbin told the Hill, pointing out that crimes involving pornography and sexual predation are excluded from leniency that the bill would allow.

“There are some areas in criminal sentencing that are very important to me and I’ve made three substantial concessions in that area and I’m not going further,” he said.

Other likely 2020 presidential candidates like Sens. Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown, and Jeff Merkley are reportedly satisfied with the bill and will support it.

“All of us would like to see it go further but this is a step in the right direction,” Merkley told the outlet on Tuesday.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/har...-prison-reform

[dukkha]

Now if we get that asshat McConnel to bring it to the floor. I think it passed the House

[cawacko]

Power trumps good policies

[Bourbon]

Yea Right .... Trump gleefully encourages China to execute drug dealers



This totally ignores Human Rights Laws, and the fact that executing dealers did not stop Drug Cartels or Muffy and Buffy from the Suburbs from funding the Drug Dealers or The Cartel.



Citing the number of people dying from fentanyl overdoses, President Donald Trump on Wednesday gleefully tweeted his support for China to start executing drug dealers.

“One of the very exciting things to come out of my meeting with President Xi of China is his promise to me to criminalize the sale of deadly Fentanyl coming into the United States,” he tweeted. “If China cracks down on this ‘horror drug,’ using the Death Penalty for distributors and pushers, the results will be incredible!”

It’s worth noting that the United States does not use the death penalty for drug traffickers, and that the policy of funding the “war on drugs” in countries that do execute traffickers and dealers is as ineffective as it is inhumane.

China has executed drug offenders, although fentanyl — a synthetic opioid — was not on the country’s list of controlled substances until now. China already leads the world in the number of executions, but it’s tough to know how many are killed on drug offenses.

https://thinkprogress.org/president-...-666148608525/


This asshole is truly a fucking psychopath............................


November 3, 2020 cannot get here fast enough............................

[Bourbon]

Power trumps good policies

Bullets Go in Both Direction ...

[cawacko]

Bullets Go in Both Direction ...

My statement wasn't partisan. Do you support the prison reform proposal?

[Bourbon]

My statement wasn't partisan. Do you support the prison reform proposal?

Absolutely ... what's the Fucking Point in investing is something you don't want to be better in time?

[cawacko]

Absolutely ... what's the Fucking Point in investing is something you don't want to be better in time?

I support it as well. But if you believe power is more important it's possible, like the Senators mentioned, to not support it

[Bourbon]

I support it as well. But if you believe power is more important it's possible, like the Senators mentioned, to not support it

Power does not Rehabilitate

[Mr.Badguy]

I say support it. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. We call policy like this a "no brainer" because even people like Trump that have no brain can see it benefits the American people.