Criminal Justice Reform Bill Passes Senate

A Criminal Justice Reform Bill has cleared it's largest hurdle: The Senate. It now moves on to the House where experts predict it will pass, and President Trump has already indicated support for it. It is likely to be enacted into law.

What does the law actually do?

The bill would overhaul the US justice system by giving more discretion to judges during sentencing, and by strengthening prisoner rehabilitation efforts.

Among the sentencing guidelines being revises is one reducing the "three strikes" penalty for drug felons from life in prison to 25 years.

It also retroactively changes guidelines that differentiate between powder and crack cocaine - a change which could affect up to 2,600 prisoners according to the Marshall Project.

It allows for more criminals to serve their sentences in halfway houses or under home confinement, and requires offenders to be jailed within 500 miles (800km) from their families.

It bans shackling pregnant prisoners and mandates that tampons and sanitary napkins be available to women.

It reduces the mandatory minimum sentences for serious drug crimes, and authorises $375m (£297m) in federal spending for job training and educational programmes for prisoners.

New Jersey Democratic Cory Booker hailed the legislation as "one small step [which] will affect thousands and thousands of lives".

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Hey! Something I genuinely support! I still think 25 years is way too long for drug crimes, but it's a step in the right direction which is basically the kind of baby steps of improvement that the government should regularly be taking.

Hopefully this passes very quickly and I will finally have something good to say about the president for basically the first time ever.

@Serraph105: Yeah, never let the perfect be the enemy of the good. This was a really pleasant surprise.

Trump train.

Nice! The three strikes Clinton era relic should have been ended with Obama.

@mattbbpl: Yes, this is true. However, you must also not let complacency set in for these baby steps. Because when they elude to "isn't this enough?" We must respond with a "resounding no." We must keep pushing. This horrible idea of a war on drugs has to go.

Politics is a game of football, really. You have to take your inches and yards when you can. If we hadn't passed the ACA we'd still be in healthcare stalemate hell like we'd been in for the previous 60 years. Now we're talking about advancing forward.

I was waiting for one of these!

Yes, kudos to Trump. He will get a legislative accomplishment, and it will surely be remembered as such. Notice for a moment that the Democratic party didn't obstruct a bill they support simply because it would give him a win even though they could have. Hell, every single Democrat in the Senate voted for it.

That's how politics is supposed to function.

All 49 Democrats voted in favor of the bill, and 12 Republicans voted against it. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was absent.

The Republicans who voted against the bill were Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).

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@mattbbpl: hopefully this can continue.

@mattbbpl: Of course. My point is we must not let them think we are complacent just because they took these baby steps. We must constantly remind them that they have a way to go before we get to that point in regards to many things, but specifically the failed war on drugs.

Yup, that's where I'm at as well, why bitch if people are taking steps in a positive direction? I mean, you still have to keep working on it until these issues are actually resolved, but it's a win for the moment. I had heard some possibility of marijuana legalization getting put into this bill so I was kind of hoping it would be in the list of pros, but a later date perhaps, or another bill.

Definitely worth highlighting, underlining, and reiterating. People who want the government to work better for the people regardless of who ends up getting the credit are worth supporting.

Pretty much. Sometimes I wonder if the democratic party is simply too politically correct.

I'd argue that this is one of those areas we desperately need reform and that we shouldn't be trying to resist just because it's Trump who might sign it.

Much needed reform. I'm glad both parties could get their shit together and pass this.

Hmm, what can you say other than "Don´t do the crime, if you can´t do the time"

But reform is needed so hopefully this will do some good.

Addiction should not be a crime........

@LJS9502_basic: And it isn't

Yet many drug users are in prison. Why do you think they use drugs?

Well, that is because they decided to take something that is illegal in the first place.

Doesn't matter. By the time it becomes a prison sentence it tends to be addiction.

Of course, it matters.

If you know something is illegal and yet still go take it, then you are clearly also able to serve the sentence.

It´s like most normal Americans, the law is the law, not just some arbitrary piece of paper, you can pick and choose what you follow.

Yeah and these normal Americans speed, pause at stop signs, avoid paying their share of taxes......cough cough......etc. So don't tell me most Americans 100% follow the law.

Two wrong does not make a right.

And if those Americans get caught they will serve the time like anyone else.

Resisting the bill probably would have done more harm than good for Democrats, especially with voters from urban areas that have at least one relative that has been incarcerated and would benefit from this. Trust me, Trump signing this bill is highly unlikely to gain a significant amount of new voters for him and even some of his supporters are pissed that he's for it. Especially since many people that won't want to give him credit will just say that he's only for it because Kim Kardashian flashed her cleavage at him or something while she was seeking clemency for Alice Marie Johnson.

I'll believe in law and order when the criminal president steps down and his supporters disappear. Until then I don't want to hear ANY Republican use those words.

@Serraph105: @mattbbpl: the Dems will be happy to support positive bills that any son of a bitch makes, doesn't matter if it's trump or anyone else, as long as their corporate masters arent being affected financially. In this way, the Dems aren't much different from the con jobs.

Ah, the old "they're all the same" argument. Sorry, but it should be clear to everyone at this point that the two parties are not the same.