We posited on Thursday that the rise of Donald Trump appears to have encouraged U.S. Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., to burnish his "outsider" credentials even more brightly.
What we didn't mention was that Perdue now has become part of a conservative rebellion against a bipartisan criminal justice package that could loosen some minimum mandatory sentences.
Politico reports of a movement involving Perdue and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton that is raising fresh concerns about the legislation.
In the U.S. House, Rep. Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, has been deeply involved in negotiations. On the state level, an ambitious set of changes to the state criminal justice code have become Gov. Nathan Deal's calling card, earning overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle.
But others worry it could lead to a wave of new crime. And Perdue as far back as October raised concerns about the changes leading to a wave of released "armed career criminals."
"It would be very dangerous and unwise to proceed with the Senate Judiciary bill, which would lead to the release of thousands of violent felons," Cotton said later in an interview with POLITICO. "I think it's no surprise that Republicans are divided on this question … [but] I don't think any Republicans want legislation that is going to let out violent felons, which this bill would do."
Cotton isn't alone. Other Senate Republicans, including Sens. Jim Risch of Idaho and David Perdue of Georgia, also registered their strong opposition during the lunch, even as Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) vigorously defended the bill, which he helped negotiate. Risch stressed this message, according to one Republican source: Shouldn't the GOP be a party of law and order?
The New Yorker lamented that the opposition could scuttle one of the few bipartisan efforts that stand a chance of getting to President Barack Obama's desk this year.
If sentencing reform does succumb to Cotton & Co., it's hard to figure when the next green shoots of hope for bipartisanship might appear. Right now that spring feels far away.
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Bill Clinton is coming to Atlanta "shortly." That's what Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed told our AJC colleague Katie Leslie.
Reed, a top surrogate for Hillary Clinton, urged her supporters to focus on Iowa, "quit acting alarmed" about her struggles in New Hampshire - and that he will "eviscerate" Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in South Carolina.
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This paragraph in the New York Times soon good be getting more attention:
Auburn, in Auburn, Ala., is one of 17 universities in the South that include broad questions on their admissions applications about any contact with the legal system or the police that applicants might have had — even an arrest, with no conviction — according to the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, an advocacy group. The universities are now the focus of an inquiry by the organization, which says such questions unfairly penalize minorities, who tend to face arrest more frequently and, as a result, could face higher admissions hurdles.
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Now playing in Carroll County:
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Former President Jimmy Carter's schedule doesn't seem to have changed much since his cancer went into remission.
His grandson, Jason Carter, gave a brief update on the Georgian's health this week, outlining the same exhausting schedule he's long kept.
But the former president has maintained a rigorous schedule. Each morning, he rises at 5 to read the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He has finished numerous paintings and he's writing a book, his grandson said. During the treatments, he also continued his longtime — and physical — service with Habitat for Humanity.
"Obviously, nobody knows what's next, but he feels great. He hasn't slowed down at all," Jason Carter said. "He made this big announcement [last year] that he was going to pull back or slow down his schedule but nobody has seen any real evidence of that."
"I think, the way that he feels, he has surprised himself even."
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