US President Donald Trump has signed on Friday Dec 21,2018 rare bipartisan legislation addressing concerns with the criminal justice system.
Trump called the bill "an incredible success for our country" and "beyond bipartisan" during an Oval Office signing ceremony on Friday.
Congresspersons and advocates also hailed it as a hugely influential package and thanked the president for supporting the issue.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said the law would give thousands of people in prison a "second chance"
The legislation will give judges more discretion when sentencing some drug offenders and will boost prisoner rehabilitation efforts.
It received the rare support of both Democratic and Republican members of Congress, as well as conservative and liberal groups that rarely work together.
Groups that supported the bill included the Fraternal Order of Police, the Centre for American Progress and the Koch brothers, among others.
Playing a key role behind the scenes was Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, whose father spent time in federal prison when he was younger. At the signing ceremony, Trump personally thanked Kushner
The US leads the world in the known prison population, with about 2.2 million people jailed at the end of 2016.
During Senate debate of the bill, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin noted the US had five percent of the world's population, but 25 percent of the world's known prison population
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