Senate Haste will Make Waste on the “First Step Act”

This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.

Police departments across the country are finding it hard to recruit new officers as they must increasingly contend with: rampant drug-trafficking; untreated mental illness, especially in burgeoning homeless populations; sometimes dangerous illegal aliens drawn to so-called “sanctuary cities”; and broad-brush condemnations of law enforcement over controversial shooting incidents.

This would seem to be a particularly bad time to be releasing from federal prisons large numbers of felons, including some with records of violent crimes. Yet, the United States Senate is poised to do just that over the next few days via legislation known as the “First Step Act.”

Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton and every federal law enforcement association have warned against hastily approving this well-intentioned, but fatally flawed initiative without hearings or proper opportunity for debate.  Should the Senate do that, it won’t be just the cops, but public safety and national security, that are endangered.

This is Frank Gaffney.