Louisville Courier Journal: Holly Harris: Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell play key roles in justice reform

The November midterm elections are upon us, and as we are all forced to relitigate a Supreme Court confirmation, and endure predictable debates on Obamacare and caravans, I’m reminded that politics is less about the heartfelt beliefs and innovative ideas of candidates, and more about the polling of their highly paid consultants. The country is as divided as ever, and real solutions to our greatest challenges seem as elusive as the bipartisan cooperation it would take to pass them. 

One exception to this sad state of affairs could be a groundbreaking piece of criminal justice reform legislation, which will likely meet its fate in Washington just days after the election. And, both senators from our home state of Kentucky will play pivotal roles in this bipartisan bill’s survival.
 
There would never have been a federal prison and sentencing reform bill but for the unlikely advocacy of Sen. Rand Paul. I can still remember how mystified the whole Republican establishment was years ago when Sen. Paul made repeated trips to West Louisville and other predominantly African-American communities to rail against a justice system feeding a growing epidemic of incarcerated black men. 

To be perfectly honest, we all thought he was nuts.

First of all, there were no votes for Rand Paul in West Louisville. There were no major donors in these meetings. There was no serious legislation to support. Heck, some of us even whispered that this crazy criminal justice stuff might just end Paul’s political career before it really began. How small-minded and short-sighted we all were.

Today, one in three American adults has a criminal record, making it harder for them to find jobs, improve their education, secure adequate housing and support their families. Jails and prisons all over the country are extended beyond capacity, filled with sick people struggling with drug addiction and mental illness. The cost of incarceration is breaking state budgets, and criminal justice reform is one of the hottest issues in statehouses from bright blue Connecticut to deep red Oklahoma. More than thirty states have passed significant legislation to safely reduce the number of people in jail and prison, and expand second chance opportunities for those returning to society. 

In Kentucky, the numbers are especially grim for women and children. The commonwealth has the second highest female incarceration rate in the country, twice the national average. Perhaps most heartbreaking, Kentucky is also second in the nation in the rate of children who have had an incarcerated parent. So in this last state legislative session, Kentucky, the first state in the nation to be called for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, became the first state in the country to pass a “Dignity Bill” focused on improving conditions for incarcerated women and mothers.

Now the man who once seemed the fool, appears the forecaster. Sen. Paul has worked across the aisle with some of his fiercest adversaries to sponsor the REDEEM Act, which includes expanded record sealing and reforms to the juvenile justice system, and a federal bail reform bill that would incentivize states to transform unfair bail schedules that discriminate against poor and disadvantaged communities. And, he is a key player helping to negotiate a Senate deal on the First Step Act, prison reform legislation that will likely be coupled with groundbreaking sentencing reforms. If passed, the bill would mark the most significant shift away from the harsh mandatory minimum sentences signed into law during the Clinton administration in 1994, which accelerated the explosion of the federal prison population.  

Of course, Kentucky’s senior senator, Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, will be the ultimate decision-maker in whether the bill gets a floor vote. With prison and sentencing reforms polling off the charts in Kentucky, and his junior senator leading the charge, McConnell has already promised that if a whip count in the lame duck session yields 60 votes, he will send the bill to the floor.

 If and when that happens, Republicans and Democrats alike will stampede to cameras to take credit for this bill. But history will smile most broadly on Kentucky, which will have delivered the pioneering voice of Sen. Paul, and the pivotal vote of Sen. McConnell. I know I will think back on Rand Paul’s visits to Louisville’s West End, and to a time when a politician chose principles over party. To paraphrase the famous poem, Rand Paul took the road less traveled by, and for the countless Americans trapped in our broken justice system, that will have made all the difference.