OPINION:
After a full year in office, it’s clear that in too many areas at home and abroad, President Biden is failing. From his botched withdrawal from Afghanistan to the illegal immigration crisis, from historic inflation to destroying America’s energy independence, this president sure knows how to rack up losses.
He’s also failing millions of Americans who, under former President Donald Trump, were given a glimmer of hope — the citizens suffocating under the weight of criminal records for low-level, nonviolent offenses committed years ago.
Mr. Biden is letting them down by not keeping his more than 100 campaign promises to enact meaningful criminal justice reform. In January, Law 360 reported that he was literally given a “D” or “F” for his lack of attention to the problem by most of its surveyed organizations.
Nearly one in 33 Americans are ensnared in the criminal justice system through incarceration, probation or parole. When so many Americans can’t find housing or obtain a decent job because of their criminal history, long after they’ve paid their debt to society, it puts a stranglehold on families and our economy. It also increases recidivism.
Our country deserves better. If Mr. Biden won’t do his job, it’s time for Republicans to pick up the slack and take the lead. How? By building on Trump’s historic success on the issue.
Championing criminal justice reform is the right thing to do and a winning strategy for the Republican Party.
Everyone who paid attention to the 2020 election should remember Alice Johnson, who was featured in a Trump campaign commercial. Ms. Johnson was sentenced to life in prison in 1996 on federal drug and money-laundering charges. In June 2018, after Kim Kardashian met with him to plead Ms. Johnson’s case, Mr. Trump commuted her sentence.
“While this administration will always be very tough on crime, it believes that those who have paid their debt to society and worked hard to better themselves while in prison deserve a second chance,” the White House stated at the time.
Later that year, Mr. Trump boldly led the way with the historic First Step Act, a law he signed with overwhelming bipartisan support and praise from the left and right. The bill equipped low-risk former inmates with more tools to find jobs and take part in vocational training, educational course work and faith-based programs. Similar initiatives at the state level have reduced recidivism substantially, with Georgia, Mississippi and Texas serving as great models for federal reform.
Mr. Trump received overwhelmingly positive press for making sweeping changes to the federal criminal justice system that had been needed for decades. Mr. Biden refusing to lead on this issue should give Mr. Trump’s allies in Congress all the more reason to out-maneuver the sitting president politically by pushing the next part of Mr. Trump’s First Step. They can do so by moving the Clean Slate Act or another common-sense criminal justice reform bill. While supporting such reforms is the right thing to do, it’s also politically smart. It appeals to a broad spectrum of the electorate not always supportive of Republicans.
Mr. Trump garnered 26% of the nonwhite vote in 2020, improving over 2016. Passing important reforms will help Republicans build on that momentum and earn more loyal, long-term support from minority voters. A change in federal policy would also positively affect voters in parts of “Trump Country,” where nonviolent offense records are problematic, too.
Not every American with a criminal record who has turned their life around has a celebrity advocating for their release or a president willing to commute their sentence. But every American deserves a government that recognizes the time-honored tradition of getting a second chance, just like Ms. Johnson. Here’s hoping Mr. Trump’s allies in Congress provide one to them.
• Michael Glassner served as a deputy campaign manager to former President Donald Trump.
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