There’s a show from the 1980s called ALF about an alien that ends up having to live with a family after accidentally crashing into their garage. In one episode, he runs up a major gambling tab and to pay it off raises the prices on items at the family’s garage sale without their knowledge to get the money needed to pay off his debts.

The Republican Party has for a long time been perceived as the party that is not sympathetic to criminal justice reform. The common opinion is that those who favor the legalization of marijuana and other drugs are usually associated with the Democratic Party. This same rationale has been applied to justice reform as well. However, things have been changing now as the Republican Party continues a stronger and more public push to promote conservative ideals within our justice system.

In the wake of the recent fiscal cliff deal, a jubilant White House bragged about breaking the Republican's no-tax pledge, referring to their victory as "one of the most consequential policy achievements of the last couple decades".But New York Congressman Chris Gibson, who had already hinted that he would not be beholden to the Grover Norquist no-tax pledge that he signed a mere two years earlier, doesn't quite see it that way.