In December 2018, then-President Donald Trump signed a criminal justice reform bill into law, calling it “an incredible success for our country.”
What You Need To Know
- In December 2018, then-President Donald Trump signed a criminal justice reform bill into law, calling it “an incredible success for our country.”
- But today, some of Trump’s opponents for the Republican presidential nomination are attacking him, as well as Democrats, for supporting legislation that they say was soft on crime
- The criticism has come from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, with DeSantis, who has called it a “jailbreak bill,” being the most forceful
- In his latest White House bid, Trump has shied away from mentioning the First Step Act and instead attempted to portray himself as tough on crime by calling for the death penalty for drug dealers
When Trump listed his accomplishments as president, he would routinely mention the bipartisan bill, called the First Step Act.
He continued to champion his work on criminal justice reform when seeking reelection in 2020, even spending millions of dollars on a Super Bowl television ad featuring Alice Marie Johnson, a convicted drug trafficker whom he pardoned after she served 21 years of her life sentence.
“Politicians talk about criminal justice reform,” a message in the ad read. “President Trump got it done.”
But today, some of Trump’s opponents for the Republican presidential nomination are attacking him, as well as Democrats, for supporting legislation that they say was soft on crime. Trump, meanwhile, has shifted away from boasting about the law.
The legislation reduced mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, expanded educational and vocational programs in prisons, and transferred thousands of inmates into halfway houses or home confinement.
The criticism has come from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, with DeSantis, who has called it a “jailbreak bill,” being the most forceful.
“If you are in jail, you should serve your time,” DeSantis told “The Ben Shapiro Show” in May. “And the idea that they’re releasing people who have not been rehabilitated early, so that they can prey on people in our society is a huge, huge mistake.”
DeSantis has vowed to seek the repeal of the First Step Act if he’s elected president. But as a congressman, he supported an early version of the bill, giving him a hurdle to clear with voters as he seeks to draw dividing lines between him and Trump. (The final legislation passed after DeSantis left the House.)
Pence said in a CNN town hall last month that he believes “we need to take a step back from the approach of the First Step Act.”
“We need to get serious and tough on violent crime,” he said. “And we need to give our cities and our states the resources to restore law and order to our streets. And I promise you we will do that if I’m your president.”
As vice president, however, Pence worked with Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, to convince members of Congress to vote for the bill.
Hutchinson has said the First Step Act “moves us in the right direction” but added “there’s probably some areas there that can be adjusted,” Politico reported.
The Trump campaign did not respond to an email seeking comment for this article. In response to DeSantis’ comments, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told The New York Times in May: “So now Swampy Politician Ron DeSanctimonious is claiming he voted for it before he voted against it. He sounds just like John Kerry. What a phony!”
In his latest White House bid, Trump has shied away from mentioning the First Step Act and instead attempted to portray himself as tough on crime by calling for the death penalty for drug dealers.
Like Trump, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who is also running for president, played a significant role in the law passing but has not played that up on the campaign trial. Scott was an original co-sponsor of the bill, but a section on his website about his law-and-order record does not mention it, instead focusing on tough-on-crime measures such as strengthening violent crime laws and increasing penalties for criminals who target law enforcement officers.
Scott, however, did defend the law in a Fox News interview last month, saying it’s “working the way it was intended to.”
An April 2023 Justice Department report found that 12.4% of prisoners released under the First Step Act have been charged with new offenses. The overall recidivism rate for federal offenders is 43%.
A poll by Benenson Strategy Group and Public Opinion Strategies just before last year’s midterms found that eight in 10 likely voters — including 74% of Republicans — supported criminal justice reform. Most supported reforms that would reduce incarceration.
