Billionaires David and Charles Koch have decided to embark on a new policy adventure: working to push for major criminal justice reform.
The influential brothers met with 550 network donors a couple of weeks ago to discuss political strategy and policy for the coming year, the Texas Tribune reported. Their focus will be reforming current criminal justice policies, specifically how prisoners are reintegrated into society.
Influencing the Discussion
The meeting served to launch "Safe Streets and Second Chances," a $4 million joint-initiative with the Texas Public Policy Foundation geared toward helping former inmates successfully re-enter society after incarceration. The goal of the program is to not only help inmates re-enter society but to also reduce recidivism rates by "combining academic research, policy reform, and evidence-driven programming to pursue the simple goal of holistic reentry plans that shift the ultimate measure of success from whether individuals are punished to whether they are improved, rehabilitated, and capable of redemption."
Texas, Louisiana, Florida and Pennsylvania are pilot projects for the initiative, where researchers provide inmates with individualized re-entry programs. According to the Texas Tribune, over 1,000 participants at eight different prison locations will participate, and researchers will study the outcome.
According to the "Save Streets and Second Chances" website, there are many aspects to dealing with those who are incarcerated:
The tolls of incarceration are extensive and far-reaching, limiting opportunities for employment, housing, financial stability, education, and even the dream of what is possible. Faced with immense challenges, old habits and the familiar past can seem like the only option, and the cycle of incarceration is likely to repeat itself.
The group says Americans want to see changes in our prison system.
Momentum is growing for substantive change that will safely reduce prison populations, crime, and recidivism rates, resulting in improvements in public safety and decreased spending. Community and faith-based organizations are making great strides toward these goals across the country.
The group also has one very lofty goal: adding ten states to the program in two years.
Interestingly enough, President Donald Trump is onboard with the plan, despite Attorney General Jeff Sessions' "tough-on-crime" policy stance.
Trump even went as far as saying this "year we will embark on reforming our prisons to help former inmates who have served their time get a second chance," during his State of the Union address.
Why the Focus on Criminal Justice Reform?
According to the Texas Tribune, the network decided to push for criminal justice reform after months of talks with Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and senior advisor, as well as with the Office of American Innovation.
The one issue the network will face: conservatives wanting to keep mandatory minimum sentences. It seems to be the one area no one can agree on.
Doug Deason, one of "Safe Streets and Second Chances" advisors, says prison re-entry is the one area that everyone can agree on.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) agrees with Deason.
"I hope what we’ll do is we’ll start with that prison reform component, and if there are things that we can add to it that make sense in the House and the Senate, then we can do that," Cornyn said during a dinner panel. "But failing that, I think it would be a great thing if we can pass prison reform and get it to the president’s desk. I'm more optimistic about that happening this year, in the next few months, than I've ever been before."
The network of donors plans to spend roughly $400 million this election cycle to advocate for their criminal justice reform proposals.
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