Gov. John Bel Edwards will meet with President Donald Trump this week to talk about his state’s criminal justice overhaul.
The governor’s office says Edwards is among a handful of governors invited to sit down with the Republican president Thursday in New Jersey, The News Star reports.
Louisiana’s prison population is dropping, with the state no longer the nation’s top jailer, under changes enacted last year. The overhaul championed by Edwards was a bipartisan effort that expanded probation and parole opportunities and reduced sentences, mainly for nonviolent offenders.
Most of the savings from the prison population reduction is used to pay for programs aimed at keeping existing inmates from returning to crime.
Two of Edwards’ chief GOP critics, U.S. Sen. John Kennedy and Attorney General Jeff Landry, have slammed the criminal justice revamp, saying it’s damaging public safety.
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Edwards among governors to talk prison reform with Trump
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