At a press conference yesterday, President Trump endorsed the FIRST STEP Act, a belabored acronym and criminal justice reform bill that stands for “Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person.” The bill, which has gained bipartisan support, offers criminals the prospect of early release for participating in rehabilitation programs. It also misses the point of criminal justice.
Conservatives including Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Heritage Foundation president Kay Coles James praise the FIRST STEP Act as a “conservative approach to criminal justice.” In an op-ed on Wednesday, Lee describes the plight of “a young father of two with no criminal record” convicted of selling three dime bags of marijuana while carrying a gun to a paid informant, for which he was sentenced to 55 years in prison. While one’s heart hardly bleeds for a gun-slinging drug dealer, such a sentence indeed seems excessive and calls for reform, particularly as states across the country offer marijuana delivery services on-demand in violation of federal law. But the FIRST STEP Act goes too far.
.png)
.png)
