According to the Daily Caller, the White House announced Friday that President Donald Trump will receive the 2019 “Bipartisan Justice Award” from a bipartisan organization of black leaders because of his work on criminal justice reform.
The ceremony will take place on October 25-27, 2019 at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina and the award is presented by the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center, a group founded in 2015 by twenty black Republicans and twenty black Democrats.
According to a press release from the White House:
“The Bipartisan Justice Award is the highest honor given annually to a public servant who has demonstrated the ability to work across the aisle to achieve meaningful progress in reforming our criminal justice system. The 2019 Bipartisan Justice award winner is President Donald J. Trump for his Bipartisan leadership in the passage of the historic First Step Act. The award is being given by the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center, a non-profit organization founded by 20 Black Republicans and 20 Black Democrats in 2015, to elevate the issue of criminal justice reform above partisan politics.”
It is planned for the award ceremony to take place during the 2019 Second Step Presidential Justice Forum, at which numerous Democratic presidential candidates are scheduled to appear so they can work on their plans to take on criminal justice reform.
On Friday, Pres Trump makes first visit to a historically black college when he addresses the “Second Step” forum on criminal justice reform at Benedict College in Columbia, SC. He speaks on Friday. The Democratic presidential candidates invited over the weekend.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) October 25, 2019
The following Democrat candidates will be part of the Democratic Candidates Forum & Town Hall at the 2019 Second Step Presidential Justice Forum: Former Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Cory Booker, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Secretary Julian Castro, Congressman John Delaney, Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator Bernie Sanders, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, and Senator Elizabeth Warren.
This major piece of criminal justice reform legislation passed in late 2018 and the 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center celebrated the passing of First Step Act or the Formerly Incarcerated Reenter Society Transformed Safely Transitioning Every Person Act The act was championed by Trump and it received overwhelming bipartisan support.
According to Ja’Ron Smith, special assistant to President Donald Trump in legislative affairs, the First Step Act is focused on recidivism reduction … the clear focus here is to create incentives to encourage low to minimal risk individuals, non-violent individuals, to participate in these recidivism reduction programs.”
The 20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center has previously awarded the Bipartisan Justice Awards to Republican West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, Democratic New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Republican Georgia Rep. Doug Collins, and others.
