Why is Trump suddenly supporting criminal justice reform?

There's a lesson here for libertarians

President Trump.
(Image credit: Illustrated | koya79/iStock, Wikimedia Commons)

In an unlikely turn of events, President Trump, in alliance with the ACLU, has thrown his weight behind a criminal justice reform bill that's wending its way through the Senate.

The bipartisan First Step Act would focus on rehabilitating prisoners, and reduce mandatory minimum sentences for drug-related crimes. Trump's motives for supporting the bill aren't entirely clear, but there's no denying that prison reform in America is long overdue. And while there have been many cases of conservatives selling out their principles to remain in good graces with Trump — often to the detriment fo the country as a whole — this is a learning moment for both conservatives and libertarians. It demonstrates why it can sometimes be useful to try to gain favor with such a malleable president.

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W. James Antle III

W. James Antle III is the politics editor of the Washington Examiner, the former editor of The American Conservative, and author of Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?.