Set to take the stage at the Republican National Convention tonight is Alice Marie Johnson, the grandmother once incarcerated for life for her nonviolent participation in a drug trafficking scheme since freed from prison by President Trump. The reason the first time offender, who spent her 21 years in prison becoming an ordained minister and certified hospice worker, languished in prison presumably for life? The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, which was co-sponsored and partially authored by one Joe Biden.
The difference on display between Trump and Biden’s legacies regarding the criminal justice system and the effect on their parties could not be more unprecedented or stark. Half a century after the GOP began to wage the war on drugs, Trump has effectively remade the Republican Party into that of criminal justice reform.
Trump may tweet poetic about law and order and, weirdly enough, claim that drug dealers should face the death sentence. And Biden may be the one beholden to a party that refuses to call the violent riots in Kenosha and Portland just that, violent riots. But as a matter of pure policy, Trump is significantly more reform-minded than his Democratic challenger. Sure, he and the rest of the GOP may believe in throwing the book at those violating basic existing laws against arson and theft, but the past four years have proven that it’s the Republican Party that wants a legal code that provides fewer reasons to call the police.
Most notable is the First Step Act, spearheaded by Republicans and lobbied by Jared Kushner and prominent conservatives such as Jim DeMint and evangelical activists, which resulted in the first real prison sentencing reform in generations. The second most notable achievement ought to be the JUSTICE Act, the police reform bill authored by Tim Scott, which was killed by Democrats in the Senate even as millions of their constituents were taking to the streets to demand that they do something in the aftermath of the police killing of the unarmed George Floyd. And furthermore, slowly but surely, Republicans are generating significantly more momentum to decriminalize marijuana federally than Democrats, given that Biden’s staunch anti-pot policy pretty much kills any hopes Democrats have of relaxing drug policy for at least the next four years.
All of this is aided by the fact that Trump’s record indicates that he’s been privately pro-pot for decades, and his prominent allies are right now. Although Trump has teased cracking down on drug deals, as far back as 30 years ago, Trump ardently slammed lawmakers for failing to legalize drugs. Now, he has two of the most pro-pot members of Congress, Cory Gardner and Matt Gaetz, lobbying him to embrace legalization.
And it’s highly possible that he will, at least if he wins reelection. Trump is reportedly fearful that state drug decriminalization and legalization measures will boost Democratic turnout, but I wouldn’t be so sure. After all, although Democrats support marijuana legalization by a greater margin than Republicans, the overwhelming majority of Republican voters support marijuana legalization, with their trendlines following Democrats. In fact, the divide is primarily bifurcated on generational lines, with two-thirds of the Silent Generation opposing legalization and at least two-thirds of every subsequent generation supporting it.
So what if Trump has said dumb stuff about criminal justice and punishing drug offenders? Based solely on his actions and his allies, he’s the most pro-reform president in history, a divergence from Biden only highlighted by the former vice president’s decision to tap Kamala Harris, who locked up nonviolent drug offenders while California attorney general, as his own running mate. It’s no coincidence that top Trump associates such as Kellyanne Conway and Rudy Giuliani used her drug record as a battering ram against the Biden ticket — Republican voters simply agree.
Trump’s message on criminal justice ought to write itself: Joe and Kamala abused their political power to punish nonviolent drug offenders, but they’re happy to let left-wing terrorists shoot up and burn down America’s businesses and cities. By contrast, Trump will restore law and order to the streets and let you light up in peace.
