The Political Dynamics of Justice Reform in The U.S.

“They don’t mind crime,” Mr. Trump said at a rally in New Hampshire last week. “We do
mind crime.”
At the same time, Mr. Trump himself serves as an illustration of the bipartisan embrace
of changing the country’s criminal justice system. Last year, he signed into law the First
Step Act, a criminal justice overhaul that has been among the most prominent bipartisan
legislative achievements to occur during his presidency. His re-election campaign has
even paid for Facebook ads promoting the legislation.
Michael S. Dukakis, who was famously attacked over his record on crime when he was
the Democratic presidential nominee in 1988, offered a warning to Democrats. Though
violent crime has declined since then, he said the issue could still resonate with voters.
“The challenge for whoever the Democratic nominee is going to be is to do a much
better job than I did of defending this,” he said.
Still, opinion polls have shown that there is wide support for various types of criminal
justice reforms among both Democrats and Republicans. And the landscape is shifting
quickly.
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