A broken clock is right twice a day, sometimes Kodak Black makes listenable music and sometimes, just sometimes, President Trump does something good.
On Wednesday surrounded by some of his most famous blacks including that one pastor with the conk, Trump announced that he was supporting a bipartisan prison reform bill that would give former inmates a second chance at life.
“We’re all better off when former inmates can receive and re-enter society as law-abiding, productive citizens,” the president said, HuffPost reports.
The tentatively named First Step Act was verbally supported by the president, who noted that the bill would “make our communities safer and give former inmates a second chance at life after they have served their time.”
The bill was championed by senior adviser, son-in-law and honey badger lookalike Jared Kushner and is expected to include “reasonable sentencing reforms while keeping dangerous and violent criminals off the street,” Trump said.
The bill, truly the first of its kind, will change longstanding “federal policies that disproportionately affected black inmates,” according to The New York Times.
HuffPost reports:
The First Step Act is designed to help federal inmates rehabilitate for life after prison by expanding their employment opportunities, incentivizing their participation in rehabilitation programs and other measures.
The legislative package was based on a previous version that overwhelmingly passed in the House of Representatives in May. Over the summer, a bipartisan group of senators added provisions that lowered the mandatory minimum sentence for drug-related offenses and reduced the “three strike” penalty from a life sentence to 25 years.
The criminal justice reform bill has gained support from both liberal and conservative groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Fraternal Order of Police and the conservative billionaire Koch brothers.
A lineup of celebrities and public figures also lobbied for the legislation, including Kim Kardashian West, who met with Trump several times at the White House to discuss prison reform.
As it stands, maybe Kim Kardashian West is good for something as she joined #Cut50, an organization co-founded by CNN’s Van Jones that focuses on criminal justice reform, to advocate for the bill.
Some 50 celebrities including, Alyssa Milano, Courtney Cox, Kanye West and Mark Cuban signed a letter demanding Congress get the bill signed before their December break.
“Today’s announcement shows that true bipartisanship is possible. And maybe it’ll be thriving, if we’re going to get something done,” Trump said Wednesday afternoon, adding: “I urge lawmakers in both the House and Senate to work hard and to act quickly and send a final bill to my desk.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), applauded the president’s endorsement of the bill.
“By ensuring that punishments fit the crimes, we can better balance the scales of justice,” the senators said in a joint statement. “We are grateful for the White House’s ongoing engagement to make these long-overdue reforms a reality.”
For those unfamiliar with the word “bipartisan,” it is an adjective from the days of yore describing the ancient process of two political parties agreeing on something although the president may have signed the bill because he thought he was authorizing his children to make future payments to stars.
No, Mr. President, you can’t finance your sexual trysts by instructing Don Jr. to just “buy parties, son.”
While experts have noted that the legislation may one day help the president secure post-prison employment after his incarceration for collusion, obstruction of justice and breaking campaign finance laws, the First Step Act will also help thousands of former inmates begin a new life.
Now everyone, please act quickly to get this into law before the president finds out that he did something that might help black people.
Correction: 11/15/2018, 5:25 p.m. EDT: A previous version of this story stated that Donald Trump signed the First Step Act. He has only expressed support for a potential bill.