ELGIN – Chicago area native Mark Vargas is working with national powerhouses – including President Donald Trump – to reform the nation's federal prison system. In addition to a recent piece for Illinois Review, Vargas wrote the following in a Washington Examiner piece:
Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, the discussion about prison and sentencing reform is back on the table. . . . The First Step Act, which passed the House of Representatives back in May with overwhelming bipartisan support, is a big step in bringing about reform. It’s now time for the Senate to act and pass this historic piece of legislation so that the president can sign it.
This week, Martin Luther King Jr's niece Alveda King wrote about the need for prison reform, and quoted Vargas along with several others pushing for the overall revamp. King wrote in a gathering of quotes from those on the Left to those on the Right that agree with the concept's principles:
Christmas Is a time for Jubilee: Bring Daddy and Mommy Home! "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free," Luke 4:18.
Read more from Ms. King in Newsmax: President Pushes Prison Reform, Praise Rolls In On 'First Step' | Newsmax.com
The prison reform issue has also become a source of hope to make the California Republican Party relevant. Reason.com argues about the California GOP:
One good place to rebuild: criminal-justice reform. The past few years California has made dramatic changes in its approach to incarceration. While the Jerry Brown administration was, say, dealing seriously with a federal court order to reduce prison overcrowding, Republicans largely resisted. These and other proposed reforms would, in their tiresome rhetoric, let violent criminals out on the streets or hobble the police.
Could this be a pattern the IL GOP should consider following? Or is it too Democrat Lite?
