Fortune: 2020 Democrats Want Criminal Justice Reform—but Donald Trump Took Home the Award

Louis Reed, national organizer for the group that was instrumental in pushing the First Step Act, told Fortune that he is optimistic. Reed, of #cut50, spent 14 years in federal prison for bank fraud. Reforms are necessary, he said, because our current society guides former inmates’ lives in ways that the general public could not imagine. 

“In my mind, the First Step Act gave our Congress permission to do more,” Reed said. “Now, we don’t have an excuse … the First Step Act is definitely a precursor and gives permission and gives passport to our elected officials to do more.”