By PopZette Staff | September 9, 2019

President Donald Trump, late on Sunday, took to Twitter to remind followers of his success in getting new criminal justice reform initiatives passed.

At the same time, he called out certain Hollywood celebrities for not acknowledging those efforts — namely singer John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, both of whom have long been anti-Trumpers.

Trump blasted the “boring” singer and his “filthy-mouthed wife “for talking now about how great” the reforms are — but noted they did not play a role when it mattered and were nowhere to be found at that time.

Trump signed the First Step Act into law late last year.

The First Step Act — which had bipartisan support — is designed to reform the criminal justice system and help inmates leave jail and their criminal lives behind.

It reduces mandatory minimum sentencing in certain instances and gives judges more discretion than before.

More than 3,100 inmates will be released under the act — a move praised by both Republicans and Democrats, as Fox News and other outlets have noted.

See the president’s series of tweets on the matter from Sunday night:

When all of the people pushing so hard for Criminal Justice Reform were unable to come even close to getting it done, they came to me as a group and asked for my help. I got it done with a group of Senators & others who would never have gone for it. Obama couldn’t come close….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2019

….A man named @VanJones68, and many others, were profusely grateful (at that time!). I SIGNED IT INTO LAW, no one else did, & Republicans deserve much credit. But now that it is passed, people that had virtually nothing to do with it are taking the praise. Guys like boring…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2019

….musician @johnlegend, and his filthy mouthed wife, are talking now about how great it is – but I didn’t see them around when we needed help getting it passed. “Anchor”@LesterHoltNBC doesn’t even bring up the subject of President Trump or the Republicans when talking about….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2019

…..the importance or passage of Criminal Justice Reform. They only talk about the minor players, or people that had nothing to do with it…And the people that so desperately sought my help when everyone else had failed, all they talk about now is Impeaching President Trump!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2019

“The First Step Act will help keep our streets safe and it offers a fresh start to those who’ve put in the work to get right with the law while paying their debt to society,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) from the floor of the Senate back in December of 2018  shortly after that body passed it.

“It also addresses unfairness in prison sentencing and revises policies that have led to overcrowded prisons and ballooning taxpayer expenses,” he said.

The First Step Act encourages inmates to participate in programs designed to help them stay away from crime. The programs include vocational training, drug treatments, educational coursework and faith-based initiatives. The inmates would then earn credits that reduce the amount of time spent in prison in return.

“Several decades ago, Congress passed well-intentioned laws imposing harsh mandatory sentences to stop the flow of drugs in our communities,” Grassley also said. “I voted for those laws. But they’ve had some unintended consequences.”

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and others also worked on the legislation and helped garner support for it.

The programs include vocational training, drug treatments, educational coursework and faith-based initiatives. The inmates would then earn credits that reduce the amount of time spent in prison in return.

They were quickly able to gain a large bipartisan group of lawmakers to back the legislation.

The state of Mississippi implemented similar reforms aimed at rehabilitation and transitioning former inmates. Several law enforcement officials from the state shared their perspectives on the reforms they implemented and on the First Step Act as well last fall. Mississippi Assistant District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath said she believed the bill would work.

“As prosecutors, we basically have two categories of offenders we deal with,” McIlrath said last November, as LifeZette reported at the time. “We have the violent, major drug traffickers that need to be in prison to protect society. Then we have this category of people who are low-risk, who can be rehabilitated. Criminal justice reform in Mississippi is working.”

This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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