Kushners Interest in Drug-Sentencing Limits Is at Odds With Attorney General
Jared Kushner, and some Republican lawmakers are discussing potential changes to the criminal justice system, including to mandatory minimum sentencing, that could conflict with Attorney General Jeff Sessions ’ tough-on-crime agenda.
Mr. Kushner met this month with House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.), continuing a dialogue with lawmakers that began in March with Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Sens. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) and Mike Lee (R., Utah). Mr. Kushner also has huddled with leaders of organizations involved in criminal justice.
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Mr. Kushner’s discussions have included a range of issues, including curbing long mandatory-minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. In contrast, Mr. Sessions is promoting mandatory minimums as a pivotal crime-fighting tool that helps prosecutors get cooperation from suspects and keeps dangerous offenders behind bars. Mr. Kushner has met with Mr. Sessions and is trying to find common ground, according to the White House official.
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“Everyone does see it as a challenge that some people in the White House and Congress want to do criminal justice reform but are at odds with actions the attorney general is taking,” said Greg Mitchell, a federal lobbyist who has worked on criminal-justice issues for years, representing groups that favor shorter sentences.
The attorney general recently scuttled an Obama administration policy discouraging prosecutors from bringing charges that carry long sentences for nonviolent, lower-level drug offenders. As a Alabama senator last year, Mr. Sessions helped doom bipartisan legislation backed by Sens. Grassley, Durbin and Lee that would have limited mandatory-minimum sentences for less-dangerous drug offenders.
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Critics of mandatory minimums say they contribute to disproportionate numbers of African-Americans serving time in costly prisons without improving public safety. A number of states, including several led by Republicans, have revamped or eliminated mandatory-minimum sentencing laws that became popular during the “war on drugs” in the 1980s.
Mr. Grassley, in a recent speech outlining his agenda at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said he is awaiting input from the White House before reviving the sentencing bill. Supporters cast it as a bipartisan initiative that demonstrates the growing consensus around reducing the prison population.
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In a sign of the sensitivities surrounding drug sentencing, two newly-filed criminal-justice bills steer clear of the issue. Rep. Doug Collins (R., Ga.) introduced a bill Monday that would require federal prisons to assess inmates’ needs and offer rehabilitation programs. Co-sponsored by Mr. Goodlatte, the bill requests $250 million over the next five years to pay for prison education programs.
“As a compassionate conservative, I know that people who are doing time will at some point re-enter the community,” Mr. Collins said.
A Senate bill filed last week by an unlikely pair—Sen. Kamala Harris of California, a potential Democratic presidential candidate, and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a former Republican presidential contender—would authorize $10 million over three years for states to overhaul bail systems. The senators say the current system keeps nonviolent suspects who can’t afford bail behind bars while more dangerous people with money go free.
Congress is unlikely to focus on criminal justice before the fall, lobbyists and staffers say. It’s unclear whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), who declined to bring the 2016 sentencing bill to a vote, would embrace a similar bill this time around.
Write to Beth Reinhard at beth.reinhard@wsj.com
https://www.wsj.com/articles/kushners-interest-in-drug-sentencing-limits-is-at-odds-with-attorney-general-1501070402