PRISONS/SENATE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump says he’s ‘thrilled’ to support a bipartisan bill to reform federal sentencing guidelines. The legislation is the first major rewrite of the nation’s criminal justice sentencing laws in a generation. Lawmakers reached agreement this week on legislation that would boost rehabilitation efforts for federal prisoners and give judges more discretion when sentencing nonviolent offenders, particularly for drug offenses. Trump says he’s ‘thrilled to announce my support for this bipartisan bill.’ Speaking in the Roosevelt Room to announcing his backing for the bill, he joked: ‘Did I hear the word bipartisan? Did I hear that word? That’s a nice word.’ It is unclear whether the Senate will move to take up the bill during the lame-duck session.”
–The Associated Press, “The Latest: Trump Backs Major Rewrite of Sentencing Laws,” The New York Times online, November 14, 2018