04/02/2018
We're posting a 2 April 2018 NYT podcast on criminal justice and prison reform as it has changed, from the Obama era to Trump-Sessions. As has been clear from the start, Sessions is bent on killing any suggestion of sentence reform, whether it comes from advocates or a bi-partisan coalition in Congress . It appears Kushner and the White House together lack the will to overrule Sessions. They are instead focusing on "prison reform," which optimistically, we can hope, includes reentry.
But Sessions holds the cards here, as does the BOP which never really fully cooperated with reforms suggested by the Obama administration. Hence, we don't expect much actual change.
But nobody ---- and certainly no independently funded foundation committed to justice reform ---- has to accept the end of justice reform in the federal system or limits on prison and reentry reforms. We don't, at Project New Opportunity, and we know how to work around a recalcitrant DOJ and BOP to get results. We know, too, that by proving people can succeed after being released from prison, we build the case for sentencing reform and even clemency when the tide changes, as it will. We hope that you are with us.
This long segment from the New York Times is worth a listen. It's an accurate summary of where things are in the world of criminal justice reform.
----Malcolm C. Young
President Trump’s son-in-law wants to overhaul the penal system, but the attorney general is bitterly opposed. That has set the scene for a highly personal battle inside the White House.
