Saunders: Thanks to Kushner, prison reform just might succeed

He lauded Kushner for quickly learning “what’s important to do and what we can’t do.”

During President Barack Obama’s second term, congressional standouts like Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., worked together on legislation to reduce federal mandatory minimum sentences that were designed to put away drug kingpins for decades but too often imposed stiff time on low-level offenders in the drug trade.

Obama was ready to sign game-changing legislation and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., was on board. All Congress had to do was pass something. But nothing happened as the 2016 election eclipsed lawmaking inside the Capitol.

Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder did encourage federal prosecutors not to seek the harshest sentences for non-kingpins. That was progress. Then the law-and-order Trump won the White House in November and chose Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to be his attorney general. A former federal prosecutor, Sessions rescinded Holder’s instructions.

Big change in the federal system seemed dead, and would have been, if not for Kushner. He explained to the Review-Journal, “The administration wants to assist longtime prison reform advocates with their initiative to create a prison system that will rehabilitate citizens who have made mistakes, paid the price and are deserving of a second chance — which will ultimately reduce crime and save taxpayer dollars.”

Feeling hopeful

In practical terms, Kushner has helped in two ways. First, his commitment tells Hill Republicans that Trump is not likely to reverse his support for prison reform. He also found a way to co-opt Sessions — by convincing inmate advocates to delay their push for sentencing reform in exchange for Sessions not standing in the way of their rehabilitation goals.

Voila. The Justice Department now “is working closely with the White House to develop legislative reforms that further the president’s goals for prison and re-entry improvements,” said spokesman Drew Hudson.

Nolan and others with Right on Crime see hope in the Prison Reform and Redemption Act, sponsored by Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., that would require prisons to assess inmates’ recidivism risk, encourage drug treatment and offer incentives for participation in recidivism reduction programs.

Many criminal justice reformers don’t think the Collins bill goes far enough. They want a bill that pares back federal mandatory minimum sentences that too often put away low- and midlevel offenders for decades, even life.

Over the last decade, Texas officials concentrated on strengthening treatment and re-entry programs for offenders — and it worked. The number of state inmates declined.

Brooke Rollins, the president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, is leaving her perch in Austin to push for reforms nationwide. She’s going to work for Kushner.