Last night, President Trump stood on the debate stage and proudly proclaimed that he’s the least racist person in the room. Unfortunately, for Democrats and their allies in the media who’ve been trying to paint him as a racist since he became the GOP presidential candidate in 2016, Trump’s actions speak louder than their false accusations.

The Washington Examiner reports – America’s imprisonment rate has dropped to its lowest level since 1995, led by a dive in the percentage of blacks and Hispanics sent to jail during the Trump administration, according to a new Justice Department tally.

For minorities, the focus of President Trump’s First Step Act prison and criminal reform plan, the rate is the lowest in years.

For blacks, the imprisonment rate in state and federal prisons is the lowest in 31 years, and for Hispanics, it is down 24%.

“Across the decade from 2009 to 2019, the imprisonment rate fell 29% among black residents, 24% among Hispanic residents, and 12% among white residents. In 2019, the imprisonment rate of black residents was the lowest it has been in 30 years, since 1989,” said the report.

In June 2018, President Trump passed the historic First Step Act, with bipartisan support—black males have been the biggest beneficiaries.

Daytona Times– The First Step Act, which replaced a federal “three strikes” rule that imposed a life sentence for three or more convictions – with a 25-year sentence, is benefiting thousands of incarcerated Black men, according to a new report.

OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/TNS
Troy Powell, a First Step Act beneficiary, left, reacts as President Trump invites him to say a few words during the 2019 Prison Reform Summit and First Step Act Celebration at the White House on April 1
More than 1,000 individuals incarcerated in federal prisons were granted sentence reductions in the four months since the First Step Act was signed into law, according to the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC). 

Their sentences were reduced by a mean of 73 months or 29.4 percent, as a result of the resentencing provisions allowed under the Act which, in addition to shortening mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses, applied re-sentencing to be applied retroactively to individuals convicted of crack cocaine offenses before 2010 – when the federal government reduced disparities between crack and powder cocaine offenses.

Besides offering lip service and photo ops in prisons, black voters should be asking why the Barack Obama-Joe Biden administration didn’t lift a finger to help black inmates?

Before President Trump passed the historic First Step Act, he gave grandmohter, pastor and model prisoner, Alice Johnson a second chance at life when he granted her clemency in June, 2018.

Washington Examiner – Alice Johnson spoke out about her “feeling of betrayal” related to America’s first black president, Barack Obama and his efforts to free non-violent, first time drug offenders, like herself.

Former prison inmate Alice Johnson said Wednesday she had a “feeling of betrayal” when former President Barack Obama left office with her still behind bars, urging other clemency aspirants to put aside their qualms and work with President Trump to win their release.

“From what everyone was saying, the Obama administration would be the one that would set you free, but I was still not set free. So to put your faith in a man was not a good thing to do,” Johnson said.

“And not only was I left behind, but many others were left behind also,” Johnson said. “There was a feeling of betrayal because I had so much hope that I was going to come out.”

Yesterday, President Trump granted Duke Tanner clemency after 16 years in prison for a non-violent crime. Donald Trump Jr. tweeted a video of Tanner praising Trump, while Trump Jr. blamed Joe Biden’s 1994 crime bill, which disproportionately affected black males.

Explaining the rate, Justice said, “At year-end 2019, there were 1,096 sentenced black prisoners per 100,000 black residents, 525 sentenced Hispanic prisoners per 100,000 Hispanic residents, and 214 sentenced white prisoners per 100,000 white residents in the U.S. Among sentenced state prisoners at year-end 2018 (the most recent data available), a larger percentage of black (62%) and Hispanic (62%) prisoners than white prisoners (48%) were serving time for a violent offense.”

For its report, the DOJ counts those in prison for more than a year.

 

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