Alice Marie Johnson and Mark Holden, two figures who surely played a major role in helping to get the FIRST STEP Act to the finish line, have this new Fox News commentary under the headline "First Step Act working — now here are the next steps in criminal justice reform." Here are excerpts:
The pursuit of criminal justice reform has done what some might have thought unthinkable in this bitter political environment. Only this could bring together the likes of Snoop Dogg with Donald Trump, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker with Republican Sen. Mike Lee, Kim Kardashian West with a grandmother from Tennessee serving a life sentence for a first-time nonviolent offense, and thousands of families in communities across the United States.
In the last 12 months, more than 4,000 individuals have rejoined their communities thanks to the First Step Act, and more than 1,600 who were not part of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 have had their federal prison sentences reduced.
More than 600,000 people return home and rejoin their communities each year. They face a myriad of challenges, from acquiring proper identification to finding a job to securing housing and building a supportive network of family, friends and community partners....
We need people in our communities, in groups such as Americans for Prosperity, Cut50, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Prison Fellowship, to unite over where they can make a difference, not on their differences. That is why we are both working with Stand Together to unite with anyone who seeks to improve our justice system.
We also need partners in business to help individuals take the next step as productive members of society. Across the nation, companies like Koch Industries, Butterball, Uber and others have partnered with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) on the Getting Talent Back to Work initiative, which aims to help businesses recruit, train and hire qualified applicants who might not otherwise get an opportunity with a record.
Criminal justice reforms like the First Step Act have enhanced public safety and reduced crime and recidivism across the country. Look at Pennsylvania and Utah, where lawmakers recently enacted clean slate legislation that has enabled millions of eligible people to have their records expunged. Other states are considering similar proposals, with the potential to open opportunities for millions more.
States that have implemented data-driven prison and sentencing reforms, from Michigan to Georgia to South Carolina to Texas and beyond, have reduced crime while giving people opportunities to improve their lives and their communities. In the Lone Star State alone, crime rates have dropped to some of their lowest since the 1960s while saving taxpayers $3 billion. They may have come for the savings, but they’re staying for the salvation. Together, we can take the next step, and we must.
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