Sentencing Reform
July 27, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
When the FIRST STEP act was making its way through Congress, its advocates claimed that only “non-violent” federal prisoners would be released from prison early. By non-violent felons they meant, in essence, drug dealers, as opposed to, say, murderers, rapists, and armed robbers. I don’t consider dealers of deadly drugs to be non-violent. Their conduct wrecks lives and sometimes ends them. But let’s accept, for purposes of discussion, the definition
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July 8, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Joe Biden, having finally apologized, ridiculously, for his remarks about working with segregationists in the 1970s, is imploring his Democratic rivals to “talk about the future instead of the past.” But talk about the past is usually more probative than talk about the future when it comes to selecting a president. Candidates who talk about the future can promise the moon. Talking about the past provides a good indication of
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May 26, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban, was released from prison last week. He served 17 years of his 20 year sentence. He got out of jail early because he received “good conduct” credits. The First Step Act — the “jailbreak” legislation pushed by the Trump administration, the Heritage Foundation, and prominent GOP Senators like Charles Grassley and Lindsey Graham — expands the credits that Lindh used to get out of
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March 3, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
I look forward to the CPAC conference every year because it brings John Hinderaker to town and we get together for dinner, along with his wonderful wife Loree. I don’t attend the conference and watch little of it on television. This year I saw only a portion of President Trump’s two-hour performance. I was struck, though, when I heard about some of the panels. First, let’s nominate Alex Azar for
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February 11, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Sen. Cory Booker likes to portray himself as someone who can work with Republicans. During a stump speech in Iowa, televised by CSPAN, Booker used the recent leniency legislation for federal felons as an example. There’s no doubt that this legislation was a genuinely bipartisan effort. And I’m sure that Booker, as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and consistent advocate of leniency for felons, played a role in
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February 5, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
President Trump and Congress have adopted a novel approach to combating the drug epidemic in America: release large-scale drug dealers from prison. Our friend Sen. Tom Cotton is the leading critic of this counter-intuitive, if not insane, approach. Yesterday, Sen. Cotton spoke to the National Narcotics Officers’ Associations Coalition about the ongoing fight against the deadliest drug war in our nation’s history. Below is a slightly shortened version of his
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December 28, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
This Washington Post article about homicide rates in Baltimore is important for two reasons. First, it confirms with updated statistics the killing spree that followed attacks on policing in Baltimore after Freddy Gray’s accidental death. Second, it demonstrates why recidivism rates based on arrest statistics vastly understate the amount of crime committed by those released for prison. This point has major implications for the federal jailbreak legislation that recently became
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December 21, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Republicans celebrated the passage of the jailbreak legislation known as First Step with an event at a trendy restaurant in Washington. Naturally. What’s the use of passing feel-good, virtue-signaling bipartisan legislation unless you have a great party afterwards? Politico reports that Van Jones introduced Jared Kushner, the man of the hour. Jones, you may remember, was too leftist even for the Obama administration. But he’s not too leftist for Kushner.
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December 20, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
As expected, the House passed First Step, the leniency legislation for federal felons, by a vote of 358-36. Here are the House members, all Republicans, who voted against the jailbreak, in defiance of White House arm-twisting, threats from leadership over committee assignments, and big money interests like the Koch Brothers: Ralph Abraham (LA) Robert Aderholt (AL) Brian Babin (TX) Andy Biggs (AZ) Mo Brooks (AL) Ken Buck (CO) Bradley Byrne
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December 19, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Late last night, the Senate passed First Step, the leniency legislation that will free many thousands of felons from federal prison and shorten the sentences of many thousands of future felons. The vote was 87-12. Here are the 12 courageous Republicans who resisted pressure from the Trump administration and from big-money interest groups like the Koch Brothers, and voted to protect the public from the hardened criminals who populate federal
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December 17, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
I wrote here about Sen. Tom Cotton’s proposed amendments to First Step — the jailbreak legislation that’s on the verge of passing the Senate. Now, in an article for NRO, Sen. Cotton explains the need for his amendments. Cotton focuses on the fact that First Step, though it excludes some federal criminals from eligibility for early release, fails to exclude a number of very serious felonies, including violent ones. He
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December 14, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Sen. Tom Cotton has offered three amendments to First Step — the leniency for federal felons legislation that President Trump supports. Sen. Cotton’s amendments would: (1) Make nine additions to the bill’s “ineligible prisoners” list for violent felons and sex offenders who are eligible for time credits. This includes sex offenders convicted of coercing a child into sexual activity under 18 U.S.C. § 2422; felons who assault law enforcement officers
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December 11, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said today that he will bring First Step — i.e., leniency legislation for federal felons — to the Senate floor. It has more than enough votes to pass. McConnell’s move follows some concessions to the bill’s critics. Although the concessions don’t come close to curing the legislation, they were enough, combined with pressure from the White House and from wealthy Republican donors, to move some GOP
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December 3, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Last month, President Trump announced his support for FIRST STEP. This legislation provides leniency for federal drug felons by shortening some sentences at the front end, and leniency for federal felons of many stripes at the back end by enabling early release from prison. It wasn’t clear why Trump made this decision, which is inconsistent with his promise to get tougher with fentanyl dealers. Perhaps it was constant pestering from
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November 30, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
FIRST STEP, the leniency for federal felons legislation being supported by President Trump, may or may not pass the Senate this year. Either way, it has split the Republican caucus. This Washington Post report leaves no doubt about that. The division is encapsulated in dueling National Review articles — one by Sen. Tom Cotton opposing the jailbreak and the other by Sen. Mike Lee supporting it. In another NRO article,
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November 28, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Conservatives applaud President Trump for keeping his promises. And we are justified in doing so. Trump has indeed kept many of his non-hyperbolic promises. Unfortunately, Trump has violated one of his most important promises: getting tougher on drug dealers. Here is what Trump said just eight months ago: Every day, 116 Americans die from an opioid-related overdose. In New Hampshire, the overdose, really, death rate — I mean, can you
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November 25, 2018 — Paul Mirengoff
Fox News reports on the arrest of a man suspected of killing a woman just hours after being released from state prison. David Bohart, 34, had been released from the Tucson state prison complex after serving a three-year stint for possession or use of dangerous drugs, according to the Arizona Department of Corrections. He had served two previous terms in prison on convictions for forgery and possession or use of
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