“President Barack Obama has overseen a dramatic reshaping of the federal prison system, as the most visible leader of a bipartisan movement to overcome the age of harsh punishment during the war on drugs.
“Indeed, Obama is on pace to be the first president in 50 years to leave office when the federal prison population is smaller than the time he was sworn in.
“But the impending presidency of Donald Trump—who ran on a “tough on crime” persona and nominated a like-minded attorney general, Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama—has exacerbated frustrations from advocates of criminal justice reform that Obama hasn’t done more, and that Congress failed to pass sweeping legislation to support him.”