South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said Sunday that he and other fellow Republicans, including Rep. Trey Gowdy and Sen. Lindsey Graham, are part of a congressional working group that’s eyeing sweeping reforms to the criminal justice system.
“We have been working for the last several months on different proposals,” Mr. Scott said on ABC’s “This Week,” The Hill reported. “I’m very interested and very engaged in studying the patterns of who we incarcerate, why we incarcerate and what we can do about it.
“We’re very open to it,” he added.
The criminal justice system has been scrutinized following racial and class unrest spurred by numerous incidents across the country of unarmed black men dying at the hands of police officers.
Mr. Scott also argued that “the power of education” can help combat the issue of entrenched poverty that’s come to light since Freddie Gray’s death in Baltimore, The Hill reported.
“I was once that kid that we’re talking about drifting in the wrong direction,” he said. “I found my way through the power of education, I found my way through the power of faith.”
“There is a trend that can be broken at its foundation if we focus first on education and second on work skills,” Mr. Scott added, The Hill reported. “The national opportunity to provide resources is there.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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