Sen. Cory BookerCory Anthony BookerRand Paul introduces bill to end no-knock warrants Black lawmakers unveil bill to remove Confederate statues from Capitol Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk MORE (D-N.J.), a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president and advocate for criminal justice reform, slammed Thursday’s 47-month prison sentence for former Trump campaign chairman Paul ManafortPaul John ManafortGOP votes to give Graham broad subpoena power in Obama-era probe Will the ‘law and order’ president pardon Roger Stone? Trump taps Lewandowski, Bossie for Commission on Presidential Scholars MORE.
Booker, who introduced the landmark First Step Act last year to implement a series of prison reforms, said he was “ticked off” about what he said was a light sentence for Manafort, but that he was not surprised.
COLBERT: Were you shocked that Manafort only got 47 months?
BOOKER: No, this criminal justice system can’t surprise me anymore.
More from @colbertlateshow’s interview of @CoryBooker airs tonight on @CBS https://t.co/Wf2s97XjMe pic.twitter.com/uEJoP0KVpz
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) March 8, 2019
“One of my friends says we have a criminal justice system that treats you better if you’re rich and guilty than if you’re poor and innocent. And there are people from neighborhoods like mine in America, who get convictions for things that two of the last three presidents admitted to doing,” Booker, who lives in Newark, N.J., said, referring to smoking marijuana.
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“We are a nation right now that churns into our criminal justice system the most vulnerable people,” he added during an appearance of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” set to air Friday night. “In our country, we prey upon the most vulnerable citizens in our nation. Poor folks, mentally ill folks, addicted folks and, overwhelmingly, black and brown folks.”
A federal judge Thursday sentenced Manafort to nearly four years in prison on eight charges of bank and tax fraud, but his sentence moving forward will be cut to three years and two months after he was given credit for time served. Federal sentencing guidelines suggested Manafort be sentenced to 19 1/2 to 24 years.
Democrats, many of whom have highlighted inequities in the criminal justice system, were quick to rebuke the sentence.
Sen. Amy KlobucharAmy KlobucharHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police Democrats demand Republican leaders examine election challenges after Georgia voting chaos Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk MORE (D-Minn.), another 2020 candidate and a former prosecutor for Minnesota’s most populous county, said Manafort’s case showed that there are “two systems of justice.”
Sen. Kamala HarrisKamala Devi HarrisRand Paul introduces bill to end no-knock warrants The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook McEnany says Juneteenth is a very ‘meaningful’ day to Trump MORE (D-Calif.), one of the current front-runners in the 2020 primary field and a former California attorney general, responded that “The justice system is broken in America.”