The big sentencing news today was, of course, the promise by Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell that he will soon bring up FIRST STEP Act for a vote. And it was pleasing to see Prez Trump use Twitter to say something nice in reaction to this news with this tweet:
Thanks to Leader McConnell for agreeing to bring a Senate vote on Criminal Justice this week! These historic changes will make communities SAFER and SAVE tremendous taxpayers dollars. It brings much needed hope to many families during the Holiday Season.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2018
Among other notable realities, this tweet is a useful reminder that Prez Trump will be eager to tout the benefits of the FIRST STEP Act after its passage and through its implementation (which will take years). Indeed, among the reasons I am so eager to see the FIRST STEP Act passed this year is so that all GOP leaders who urged its passage will be invested in helping to ensure its long-term success (and will, I hope, be eager to support further reform if the FSA proves very successful).
But another thought came to mind upon reading Prez Trump's accurate statement that criminal justice reform "brings much needed hope to many families during the Holiday Season" — namely that clemency grants provide another means to make many families hopeful during this time of year. I have noted in recent posts here and here some notable recent clemency work by Govs in California and Oklahoma, and it would be great to have many more such stories to spotlight from both Governors and the President of the United States.
As regular readers know, Prez Trump was sure talking up a good clemency game over the summer, but we have not seen much action on this front in recent months. I suspect that one possible reason for clemency hesitation was a White House focus on getting the FIRST STEP Act passed. Now that that there seems to finally be legislative movement on this front, perhaps Prez Trump and his team can focus now again on using a tool that "brings much needed hope to many families" without having to deal with any folks in Congress.
A few of many recent related posts:
- Kimme’s accomplishment: Prez Trump commutes LWOP sentence of Alice Johnson!!
- Prez Trump reportedly "obsessed" with pardons and "may sign a dozen or more in the next two months"
- Prez Trump now says he is looking at "3,000 names" for possible clemency and will seek more
- Another notable report on clemency suggesting Prez Trump will be "pardoning a lot of people — pardons that even Obama wouldn’t do"
- Will Prez Trump deliver on all the clemency "tidal wave" of hopefulness he has engendered?
- Can Kanye West help jump-start now dormant clemency and criminal justice reform activity in White House?
- How about a few clemency grants, Prez Trump, to really honor vets in need on Veterans Day?
- "The process to pardon turkeys is more rational than the one used for humans"
- Timely reminder that now would be the perfect time for Prez Trump to make good on his clemency talk
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