At CPAC Thursday, left-wing CNN analyst Van Jones reluctantly offered praise to conservatives for leading the way on criminal justice reform.
According to National Review, the CNN analyst appeared alongside CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp and touted the bi-partisan criminal justice reform package that President Trump signed into law this past December. The bill, which essentially loosened some of the criteria for inmates to participate in early release programs, has been generally backed by libertarians and many on the right. Here’s what Michelle Malkin said of the bill at the time of its passage:
The package of criminal justice reform proposals endorsed by President Donald Trump is not “soft” on crime. It’s tough on injustice. And it’s about time.
Known as the “First Step Act,” the legislation confronts the Titanic failure of the federal government’s trillion-dollar war on drugs by reforming mandatory minimum sentences, rectifying unscientifically grounded disparities in criminal penalties for crack vs. powder cocaine users, and tackling recidivism among federal inmates through risk assessment, earned-time credit incentive structures, re-entry programs and transitional housing.
There’s nothing radical about giving law-breakers who served their time an opportunity to turn their lives around and avoid ending up back behind bars. More than 30 red and blue states have enacted measures to reduce incarceration, control costs and improve public safety. Texas — no bleeding-heart liberal mecca — spearheaded alternatives to the endless prison-building boom a decade ago by redirecting tax dollars to rehab, treatment and mental health services. The Lone Star state saved an estimated $3 billion in new public construction costs while stemming the prison population tide.
Jones not only praised conservatives for passing the bill but actually pointed out that conservatives in deep red states have enacted impactful criminal justice reform.
“The conservative movement in this country, unfortunately from my point of view, is now the leader on this issue of reform,” Jones said. “You look at Mississippi, a rock-ribbed, total conservative former jailer is now the governor. Governor Bryan cut the prison population and crime at the same time. [Governor Nathan] Deal in Georgia cut the prison population and crime at the same time. … What you’re seeing now is Republican governors being tough on the dollars. Tough on crime and shrinking the prison population.”
“You are stealing my issue,” he begrudgingly admitted. “Take some dadgum credit for being smart. Take some dadgum credit for getting it right.”
Van Jones also called for some bi-partisanship, saying the country needs its right-wing as well as its left-wing in order to function.
“I’ve never seen a bird fly with only one wing,” Jones said, according to Mediaite. “We need each other.”
Not everything Jones said went over well with the conservative audience, however. He even drew some boos when he said, “undocumented immigrants right now have a lower crime rate than the rest of us.”
Jones worked closely with White House aide Jared Kushner and the Trump administration to get the First Step Act passed through Congress.