Althouse: "Some of the strongest advocates for the bill and conservative reform seem to be those with personal connections to the criminal-justice system."

December 17, 2018

"Some of the strongest advocates for the bill and conservative reform seem to be those with personal connections to the criminal-justice system."

"Much of the public and private heavy lifting in building support for the bill has been done by Jared Kushner, who made a rare appearance on Sean Hannity’s show to promote it and is reportedly responsible for securing an endorsement of the bill from Fox News. Kushner’s father, Charles Kushner, spent over a year in federal prison after being convicted for white-collar crimes, in 2005."

From "The Improbable Success of a Criminal-Justice-Reform Bill Under Trump" (The New Yorker).

33 comments:

AllenS said...: ... and after this reform, they need to stop the FBI and other law enforcement entities from railroading people who unfortunately cannot afford to challenge the state charges.; 12/17/18, 5:29 PM
Ken B said...: Translation : conservatives learn.; 12/17/18, 5:34 PM
eddie willers said...: "Some of the strongest advocates for the bill and conservative reform seem to be those with personal connections to the criminal-justice system."

So?

Christopher Reeve didn't care about spinal injuries until he fell on his million dollar ass.; 12/17/18, 5:35 PM
Sebastian said...: Of course, the actual dirty not-so-secret of American criminal justice is that many criminals get away with their crimes.; 12/17/18, 5:36 PM
JackWayne said...: Anyone who falls for bipartisanship is a maroon. “Criminal justice reform” is garbage.; 12/17/18, 5:41 PM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: The laws do not apply to the Clinton Crime Family.; 12/17/18, 6:00 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Sorry, Republicans, no immigration reform, but would you be interested in the next best thing, letting criminals out of prison early?; 12/17/18, 6:08 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Sorry, Republicans, no immigration reform, but would you be interested in the next best thing, letting criminals out of prison early?"

What is "early"? Is a 17 year old sentenced to 60 years in prison on a drug charge getting out "early" if he is released after only 25 years?

The reality is our sentencing is far too harsh and reform of the justice system is loooooooong overdue.; 12/17/18, 6:45 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Of course, the actual dirty not-so-secret of American criminal justice is that many criminals get away with their crimes."

Worse, many others receive sentences far out of proportion to their crimes.; 12/17/18, 6:46 PM
n.n said...: Constitutional reform implies that debts are proportional, and neither cruel nor unusual, with the right to trial and confrontation of witnesses. The Constitution was deprecated and democratically defeated with inference of the Twilight (a.k.a. "penumbra") Amendment and derivative laws, regulations, and policies.; 12/17/18, 7:09 PM
Drago said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/17/18, 7:22 PM
Drago said...: Jack Wayne: "Anyone who falls for bipartisanship is a maroon."

LLR Chuck hardest hit.

Again; 12/17/18, 7:23 PM
Drago said...: Robert Cook: "What is "early"? Is a 17 year old sentenced to 60 years in prison on a drug charge getting out "early" if he is released after only 25 years?"

What are the average sentence lengths for under 18, first time non violent, no weapons, drug offenders and broken out by merely possession (at various levels) and distribution (at various levels) as well as by substance type?

Lets see how accurate Cooks example really is.; 12/17/18, 7:29 PM
rehajm said...: The penalty for shooting assholes is far too harsh.; 12/17/18, 7:32 PM
rehajm said...: Lets face it- some of these crimes that aren’t conmitted because of harsh penalties really need to happen for the betterment of society.

Freeing up the good guys a bit is a good thing.; 12/17/18, 7:35 PM
Birkel said...: The federal government has way too many criminal laws. Most criminal law (90% or more) should be state law. 9th and 10th Amendments should matter. Small government conservatives who want expansive federal criminal laws are doing it wrong.

Come on, people!; 12/17/18, 7:48 PM
Henry said...: That's a willfully petty story. So ingrained is his habit of hate-mongering, that Mr. Nwanevu can only presume that Mr. Kushner -- a pretty moderate New Yorker -- is motivated by the white-collar criminal prosecution of his father. And he implies that the libertarian Koch brothers' support for sentencing reform is motivated by a 2000 state-of-Texas prosecution of Koch Industries. Mr. Nwaneyu quotes from an utterly cynical anti-Koch article by Jane Meyer and chooses to highlight what Mayer reports about the 2000 date while ignoring what Mayer ALSO reports about the Koch's long-term commitment to the libertarian party:

It is true that, at least as far back as 1980, when Charles Koch enlisted David, then a company executive, to run for Vice-President of the United States on the Libertarian Party ticket, the brothers have publicly supported radical reform of America’s criminal-justice system.

Yes it is true. But it is so much sweeter to sneer than to report.

Overall, it's awesome that criminal justice reform might happen, and that some of the left's untouchables might be the ones to drive it. It would take a more honest columnist than Mr. Nwaneyu to tell that story straight.; 12/17/18, 7:54 PM
Rob said...: Lovely bit of trivia: Apart from having presidents as fathers, what do Ivanka Trump and Chelsea Clinton have in common? Both have fathers-in-law who spent time in federal prison.; 12/17/18, 8:06 PM
Ambrose said...: The idea that Kushner is motivated to work on prison reform because his father spent a year in jail for a white collar offense over decade ago is absurd. No, the New Yorker jut wanted a reason to get the story out to smear Kushner.; 12/17/18, 9:02 PM
Darleen said...: Is a 17 year old sentenced to 60 years in prison on a drug charge getting out "early" if he is released after only 25 years?"

Where is that case? I want to see how a JUVENILE gets such a sentence.

all I'll say about this push is that Jerry Brown has been pro-criminal since 2011 - first AB109 (Prison realignment), then Prop 47 & 57. Now all bail bonds are banned and the felony murder rule is out.

Crime is up. We have regressing to the early 1990s which spurred legislation like 3 strikes.

I work in a DA office, I see this daily. You put criminals behind bars, crime goes down. You let them out, crime goes up. You incentivize crime by essentially decriminalizing a lot of property crime, you get more property that no longer counts on criminal statistics because the cops aren't coming out to take reports (car break ins, shop-lifting, etc).

Imagine that.; 12/18/18, 12:26 AM
Kevin said...: That's a willfully petty story.

The meme is that Dems do things to help the poor and downtrodden while the Reps are motivated to help rich people and out of racism.

It’s not willfully petty. It’s fitting the world the press has been educated they inhabit.

They literally do not know better.; 12/18/18, 2:50 AM
Bob Loblaw said...: What are the average sentence lengths for under 18, first time non violent, no weapons, drug offenders and broken out by merely possession (at various levels) and distribution (at various levels) as well as by substance type?

I don't know what it is in other states (I hear NY is pretty strict), but here in CA you don't get any time at all for first time simple possession. You'll get mandatory drug counseling plus some community service. And that's for hard drugs - pot's legal now.; 12/18/18, 3:52 AM
sdharms said...: Allen S says: . and after this reform, they need to stop the FBI and other law enforcement entities from railroading people who unfortunately cannot afford to challenge the state charges.
Sebastian says: Of course, the actual dirty not-so-secret of American criminal justice is that many criminals get away with their crimes.
Amen to both. THis is the NUT of the problem. And the post-incarceration dirty little secret is there is NO WAY to REDEMPTION. When you cant get a job, your face is all over the internet for decades, how do you redeem yourself? You cant. So … recidivism.; 12/18/18, 6:14 AM
sdharms said...: Darleen: If you really work in a DA office you are willfully blind . IT happens all the time, all over the country. The poor are hammered with poor or no legal advice, excessive charges by the DA, forced into a plea, no family support, long sentences, …
It has never touched you directly, when, if, it does, you will know how wrong you have been.
And do you believe crime "statistics" ? Creatively written by those who police, charge and prosecute and sentence. WOW.; 12/18/18, 6:18 AM
Ajnal said...: So the trump admin is now interested in reform! They better hurry!

Too easy...; 12/18/18, 6:19 AM
Kay said...: I find it odd that the people at the New Yorker are so much in favor of this bill.; 12/18/18, 7:37 AM
Tina Trent said...: Sdharms: Pure, unadulterated, and blood-drenched nonsense. I lobbied for and worked with crime victims and police in Atlanta (not campus feminist garbage) and tracked the records of recidivist offenders in Florida and elsewhere for several years. I never saw someone even go to jail, let alone prison, until he or she had been caught and released and given no consequences for scores of crimes. Break into someone's house? 10 of them? Don't worry about it. The youts didn't see juvenile until they shot someone. They got a clean slate at 18, and kept rolling. It isn't notable to have someone nolle prosecced for 30 crimes in a row. So all these people being 'thrown in prison for one 'lil offense' is garbage.

That's reality. This "reform" is pandering garbage. I was in the audience at Koch HQ in Atlanta for the reformers national conference. We watched the video feed from DC with cop hater Van Jones snuggling with Newt Gingrich and various ACLU vampires and my scuzzy congressman, "conservative" pocket stuffer Doug Collins, also Rubio the rest of the Koch bagboys. y

In Atlanta, the Koch Foundation Ken Doll boyos nervously chatted with the ususal suspect 'blackministers' who have been screwing their own crime-ridden communities for half a century. Hilariously, one of the ministers -- whom I personally know -- started ranting from the stage, saying "if you folks want us to front for you, you better show us the money." I was the only person in the audience who laughed. He was the only person who told the truth all night.

That's crime reform in a nutshell: power-hungry idiot libertarians and power-hungry poverty pimps colluding to score political gold regardless of the bloodshed. They all (including the ministers) piled into their limousines in the private lot: I walked back to my car in the pay by the hour lot on West Peachtree Plaza, boxcutter in one hand, punch stick in the other, telling the aggressive panhandlers to stay away. I lived there, and lived like that, for a long time. Boxcutters are better than mace. Hammers are best but I didn't figure I could explain having one in Koch HQ. The tourists had cleared the streets. It isn't safe there after dark. I watched the limos zip away to other places. Safe places. Quite metaphorical.

There are only a few reality-based sources for crime information on the internet. the best is Daniel (Daniel, not David) Horowitz. Second City Cop and Hey Jackass cover Chicago. Martin Prieb, another Chicago Cop and amazing writer, is a must-read. DNA Info used to be a source until someone shut it down. Colin Flaherty tells the truth and is thus being blocked, but you can still find him. Heather Mac Donald has the policy down. I used to blog about Atlanta crime and recidivists elsewhere, including not innocent Innocence Project clients. But the sheer willful stupidity of the bleating bleeding hearts and crime profiteers and liars wears one down.

I spent decades working crappy jobs so I could lobby for truth in sentencing, 80% time served for violent crimes, two and three strikes laws for violent recidivists, DNA databasing, and exposing absurd evidentiary rules that let killers and rapists walk. Now it is all being threatened by people who live cosseted by security teams. over the years, I've met and heard from hundreds of desperate survivors and family members amazed at how many crimes the guy who raped and killed their daughter walked away from before he destroyed their lives. It's always -- always-- the same damn story. And people like you know nothing but righteously flap your lips. Idiot wind.; 12/18/18, 7:48 AM
wild chicken said...: Oof..; 12/18/18, 7:53 AM
hombre said...: Criminal justice reform is ALWAYS about putting convicted felons back among the innocents. Reformers are either “bleeding” for criminals or trying to save incarceration money to buy votes elsewhere.

It has nothing to do with justice.; 12/18/18, 12:13 PM
Jim at said...: You incentivize crime by essentially decriminalizing a lot of property crime, you get more property that no longer counts on criminal statistics because the cops aren't coming out to take reports (car break ins, shop-lifting, etc).

I've experienced this first hand. Not because the cops didn't take a report. They did. And the guy was properly ID'd. We had him.

It was the effin' prosecutor's office who declined to pursue the case because it was only a property crime.

Well, if you're not going to do the job we've elected and appointed you to do, don't be surprised if some people take matters into their own hands. Because we will.; 12/18/18, 3:39 PM
Jim at said...: The poor are hammered with poor or no legal advice, excessive charges by the DA, forced into a plea, no family support, long sentences, …

That's a load of crap.

People walk every, fucking day. No punishment for crimes they've committed.

You don't want to see how this turns out. You really don't.
Or maybe you do and don't think it will impact you.

It will.; 12/18/18, 3:44 PM
Darleen said...: sdharms: Darleen: If you really work in a DA office you are willfully blind . IT happens all the time, all over the country. The poor are hammered with poor or no legal advice, excessive charges by the DA, forced into a plea, no family support, long sentences, …

Here's the thing, sweetheart, nothing stops you from volunteering to work a few months at your local DA office to see how the sausage is made rather than spinning all manner of conspiracies.

But you won't do it because it would blast your shibboleths.

I started working at my county in 1998 (DA office), promoted into Probation where I actually worked inside JDAC (Juvenile Detention & Assessment Center) for 4 years then promoted back to DA office where I've been at my current supervisory position for 6 more.

You know the DDAs and PDAs in our county are paid exactly the same scale?

Like all institutions staffed by humans, there are failings. I absolutely hate to see the failings of DDAs who over charge or under charge. HOWEVER, outside of a handful of charges that the LE agencies can file direct with the court, misdemeanor & felony reports are assessed by an issuing dda and their criteria for filing is "is there enough evidence to sustain a conviction?"

Hence, the vast majority of defendants will take a standard plea rather than going to trial because, well, everyone in the room, including them, knows they're guilty.

Pulled over for DUI? Blow a .18 BAC? VC21532(a) & VC21532(b). If it's your first you'll be offered to plead to the b count, have the a count dismissed and have standard 1st time DUI sentencing standards (time in custody, 3 yrs probation, fines and alcohol education). Day in-Day out, same plea & pj offered to such misdemeanor DUI defendants regardless of their age/race/sex/income

Do you know in San Francisco, people aren't locking their cars anymore? Because car breakins - smashing windows, cops won't come out to take a report. So people hope the criminal will open the door, see nothing to steal, and move on without trashing the interior.

You should see my misdemeanor pre-trial calendars - we have 2 departments for them alone and running approximately 800 cases per week.

Druggies picked up on under-the-influence & possession will not spend any time in jail. CA has THREE diversion/rehab projects (PC1000, Prop 36 & Drug Court). We now have another diversion program for first time non-violence misdemeanor defendants -- RISE -- so they can do a program, stay out of trouble & their charges are dismissed after 6 months.

But criminals going to criminal and too many just think this is all a big joke..then go out and victimize the community.

And you know who is hardest hit? The people in poor & working class neighborhoods. Cuz they don't get the walls with security guards and many houses in their neighborhoods are low-rent to the kind of scum who then rob them.

The majority of the criminals we process are frequent fliers. Their rap sheets are 3-10 pages or more. Getting caught is just part of the price of being a thief, burglar or gangbanger. They don't give a sh*t about YOU or any other normie. You're all suckers to them.

You can take your faux indignation at LEOs & DDAs who are trying to keep the sociopaths off the streets and shove up your a**.; 12/18/18, 8:45 PM
Darleen said...: ARGH, dyslexic fingers.

CA DUI charges: VC23152(a) & VC23152 (b); 12/18/18, 8:47 PM