Under President Trump, the federal government executed the most prisoners of any administration in more than a century. Before Trump's tenure, only three federal prisoners had been executed since 1988 and none since 2003. Thirteen were put to death during Trump's term, all during the last six months he served. Trump has promised to expand the use of the death penalty by applying it to drug dealers. He has also pledged to expand immunity protections for police, including when they rough up protesters. At rallies and at the Republican National Convention, incidents of “migrant crime” have been a central part of his argument for toughening border security and deporting individuals in the U.S. illegally. None of this is a surprise. Trump has always been a “law and order” guy, reports Governing. On Sunday, Trump called for “one real rough, nasty” and “violent day” of police retaliation in order to eradicate crime “immediately.” The remarks at a rally in Erie, Pa., did not amount to a new policy proposal, according to a Trump campaign official. “One rough hour — and I mean real rough — the word will get out and it will end immediately, you know? It will end immediately,” Trump said, Politico reports.
While talking tough, Trump signed one of the most sweeping recent criminal justice reform laws, the 2018 First Step Act, which shortened sentences for some nonviolent offenders, with the goal of reducing incarceration rates while improving prison conditions. The law "has to be considered one of the more significant legislative victories of Trump’s time in the White House,” says Heath Brown, who teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Trump has seldom mentioned the law on the campaign trail. His overall message of tougher penalties and support for police has most observers convinced not only that he will pursue a punitive approach at the federal level, but that his election will be a further impediment against criminal justice reform at the state level, which are already encountering considerable resistance. For her part, Vice President Harris, has sought to highlight her work as a prosecutor putting away murderers and rapists. Although she’s talking tougher than she did during her abortive 2019 run for president, no one thinks she would take as hard a line overall as Trump. A key to what Trump would do as president is who he would chose as Attorney General. Among those under consideration are John Ratcliffe, who served under Trump as director of national intelligence; Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri, a former state attorney general; and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah. Trump also has mentioned Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton. reports the Wall Street Journal.
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