On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and representative and ask them to support the Fair Chance Act, H.R. 1905 and S. 842, introduced by Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). This bipartisan legislation would aid prisoner reentry into society and lower crime rates, by delaying inquiries into criminal history for federal job and federally contracted applications until the conditional offer stage.

The movement to pass measures of criminal justice reform in Washington has sprung to life in the 115th Congress in recent days. In the Senate, conservative champions of the issue have reintroduced legislation that has garnered bipartisan support in past Congresses.

Over the past several months, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a step back on federal justice reform efforts, regressing to purportedly “tough on crime” stances. From advising increased penalties for nonviolent offenders to more recently promising an increase in the use of civil asset forfeiture by the federal government, Sessions has been doing everything in his power to give the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s full support to 80s-era policies from which many conservatives have abandoned in favor of evidenced-based practices that reduce recidivism and enhance public safety.

Last week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions released a memo in which he ordered federal prosecutors to seek the toughest penalties for nonviolent drug offenders. The result of this change in sentencing policy means more nonviolent e will be subject to mandatory minimum sentences.

President Donald J. Trump has selected Neil Gorsuch, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, as his nominee for the United States Supreme Court. Support for his choice seems to be unanimous among Republicans which is unsurprising. What is interesting, however, is that Democrats seem to be more divided about the issue.