Conservatives Call for Senate Action on Prison Reform

Today, prominent conservative leaders delivered a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) urging them to take up the FIRST STEP Act, which would increase public safety, provide re-entry programming to help reduce recidivism, and give those incarcerated a second chance once they have paid their debt to society. The legislation overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives with a vote of 360-59, and is awaiting consideration in the Senate.

The letter, organized by Right on Crime and signed by national conservative leaders and state legislators like former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Attorney General of the U.S. Edwin Meese, Concerned Women for America President Penny Nance, former U.S. Senator Jim DeMint, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, Media Research Center Founder Brent Bozell, American Targeting Advertising Founder Richard Viguerie and 25 others; states in point:

“President Trump has outlined seven key tenets of conservative re-entry policy, such as a focus on public safety outcomes, the use of proven successful policies, and incentivizing offenders to seek their own redemption rather than simply ‘waiting out their time.’ Each principle has proven to be effective in states like Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina where conservative criminal justice policies have been implemented.”

The letter encourages Senate leaders to take up consensus legislation quickly and pass the FIRST STEP Act without amending it, which would be a crucial step forward in transforming people’s lives.