The impact of liberal “justice reform” is already being seen in California and other states across the Nation. It’s coming to Virginia next. The First Step Act, heralded as the most important overhaul to criminal justice laws, capped off a wave of local and state laws that eased bail, shortened sentences and reclassified some crimes — like the Democrat-contolled General Assembly is pushing through in Virginia. The goals were to ease prison overcrowding, reduce costs and make the system more equitable.
But those goals have sometimes introduced a laxity that endangers America especially at the state level, public safety advocates say.