Newt Gingrich, Pat Nolan: First Step Act needed this year to replace ‘Terrible Status Quo’
In a FOX
News op-ed, former Republican Speaker
of the House Newt Gingrich and American Conservative Union’s Pat Nolan President
underscore the societal, economic and rehabilitation shortcomings of the
current criminal justice system. The First Step Act addresses many of these challenges. With support from President
Trump, key
law
enforcement
organizations
and a wide range of conservative and liberal lawmakers
and organizations, the Senate should pass the First Step Act this year.
America’s
criminal justice system is badly broken, and the next few weeks will determine
the fate of efforts to fix it. … But unless the U.S. Senate passes the First
Step Act before the end of the year, the terrible status quo in our federal
criminal justice system will continue.
…
More than 95 percent of those we
imprison will be released at the end of their sentences. What kind of neighbors
will they be? The First Step Act would focus offenders’ time in prison on
preparing them for their release.
…
Our prisons should send inmates
home who are better than when they entered, so that they can support their
families, pay taxes and stay out of trouble. The result will be fewer victims
and safer neighborhoods.
…
If the Senate doesn’t pass the
First Step Act now and send it to President Trump to be signed into law, it may
be years before we have as much support for fixing our badly broken system.
Read the
full op-ed HERE.
More on the First Step Act:
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