I did a bit of reading into the background of the bill. It was pushed hard by Jared Kushner (trump's son in law). Trump then endorsed it and pressured republicans in the senate to pass it. The trump administration was pivotal to this being passed.
Assuming that every single Republican voted for the bill (unlikely, given that Republicans have consistently framed themselves as being "tough on crime" since at least the 1980s) it would've required at least 117 Democrat Representatives (out of slightly less than 200) to muster the 358 "Yes" votes that it did.
This was a bipartisan bill, born in large part from years of pressure exerted by the left-wing press to curb the tide of "mass incarceration".
While I agree that the title is intending to lead to a specific narrative, the title is accurate.
If after the Pulse Night Club Shooting Fox News published a headline saying "49 killed in terror attack perpetrated by son of Muslim immigrants let into our country on account of pro-immigration policies that the contemporary Left has always pushed on the country" it would be technically true but not a helpful title for an article at all, wouldn't you agree?
If a large number of people are released early from prison, at least a handful are going to go on to commit crimes, because that's what former inmates do. If anything, their time in prison makes them more likely to re-offend. As Michael Dukakis would tell you, this is going to happen whether the politicians doing the releasing are Democratic or Republican.
If the fact that this happens justifies gutting the programs, then just say so. If the bill is something you would agree with had Obama backed it, then you don't get to blame Trump for whatever bad results might ensue when he decides to do so. Criticizing Trump on this particular item is tantamount to admitting "this policy we've always supported was a mistake". If the policy is still worthwhile then Trump did good in spite of what happened with this certain ex-con, and even if you hate him for everything else you can't get on to him about this one thing. On this one item you have to either concede he did good or keep quiet.
The fact that CNN, a notoriously hard-left outlet whose news anchor cried on Trump's election night and babbled nonsense about America being "no longer safe" for black people, would hate on Trump for supporting the exact kind of prison reform they've been pushing for years suggests a lack of integrity or concern for truth on their part, and instead a desire to paint Trump in a bad light literally no matter what he does. This, in turn, further casts doubt on the validity of the countless reports/rumors they and their ilk have raised about the President. Maybe some of it is true, but all of it definitely isn't.
