A newly signed law by President Trump is now the most pivotal justice reform law in years. In his State of the Union Speech, he stated that criminal justice reform legislation to be one of his big accomplishment in his term.
As stated by
President Trump – “This legislation reformed sentencing laws that have wrongly
and disproportionately harmed the African-American community.” “The First Step Act gives
nonviolent offenders the chance to reenter society as productive, law-abiding
citizens. Now, states across the country are following our lead. America is a
nation that believes in redemption.”
The First Step Act, passed and received overwhelming support from Republicans and Democrats. This act takes a low-key process in changing the federal criminal justice system and moderates harsh prison sentences at the federal level, and it only affects the federal system – which has about 181,000 prisoners. A significant fraction of the prison’s population of 2.1 Million.
It will be several months before it is fully implemented and it appears that it is not properly funded but hopefully with time and proper funding these implementations can impact thousands (if not millions) of lives in many positive ways.
Freedom is something we all value, but we can’t deny that when it comes to law, not everyone is given an equal right as well as not everyone deserves it.