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Tags: criminal justice | reform | bipartisan legislation | prison reform | nonviolent crimes

House Sends Criminal Justice Bill to White House

barbed-wire fencing surrounds a prison as a truck drives by on a nearby roadway
(Ricardo Arduengo/AP)

By    |   Thursday, 20 December 2018 04:51 PM EST

The House on Thursday sent the bipartisan criminal justice bill, which will tweak several sentencing laws including the "three strikes" penalty, to President Donald Trump for his signature, The Washington Post reports.

The House voted to pass the First Step Act 358 to 36 after a year-long lobbying effort by conservatives and progressives, including White House adviser and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the billionaire Koch brothers' network.

"We have an incredible coalition of the unusual suspects," Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the leading Democrat sponsoring the bill in the House alongside Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., told Politico on Thursday.

"If you have a situation where Democrats and Republicans, progressives and conservatives, the left and the right, the ACLU, and the Koch brothers, Doug Collins, and Hakeem Jeffries . . . along with Trump are all on the same page, this should happen now."

Trump reiterated his support for the bill shortly after the vote in a tweet, writing, "Congress just passed the Criminal Justice Reform Bill known as the #FirstStepAct. Congratulations! This is a great bi-partisan achievement for everybody. When both parties work together we can keep our Country safer. A wonderful thing for the U.S.A.!!"

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Newsfront
The bipartisan criminal justice bill, which will tweak several sentencing laws including the "three strikes" penalty, was sent Thursday from the House to President Donald Trump for his signature, according to The Washington Post.
criminal justice, reform, bipartisan legislation, prison reform, nonviolent crimes
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2018-51-20
Thursday, 20 December 2018 04:51 PM
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