WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC) – President Donald Trump hosted an event Monday evening at the White House that celebrated the passage of the First Step Act, his landmark prison reform bill.
Notable dignitaries, including Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, attended the event.
Last December, the president officially signed the First Step Act into law which is aimed at addressing criminal justice reform.
The bi-partisan bill has helped prisoners with non-violent offenses participate in vocational programs so they can get jobs.
Multiple beneficiaries of the first step act appeared on stage with the president. One of them got emotional while talking about how the bill has benefitted her. “I just want to thank… thank you for signing the bill,” April Johnson said. “I got a (unintelligible) release for my daughter and because of that, I’ll be able to spend what time she has left with her. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in September and they have since given her a grave prognosis. And because of the bill and the First Step Act, I’ll be able to spend the rest of her time with her.”
The president said it was time to fix the broken criminal justice system. He said, “The more I met and spoke with those involved in our criminal justice system, the more clear it became that unfair sentencing rules were contributing to the cycle of poverty and crime like really nothing else before. It was time to fix this broken system, and it’s a system of the past, and improve the lives of so many people.”
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.