The president has tried to brand himself a criminal justice reformer. He supported and signed the FIRST STEP Act, commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson after a highly-publicized campaign by Kim Kardashian West and recently marked Second Chance Month with a celebration at the White House.
But the president has also nominated two attorneys general who are ardent supporters of mass incarceration and has made comments and pushed policies that are more reminiscent of his Central Park Five stance than his newfound reformer image. Now, behind the scenes, the White House is moving to change the rules for federal hiring by discriminating against anyone who has come into contact with the justice system.
The above excerpt was originally published in The Hill.
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