As a former state and federal prosecutor, Matthew Whitaker has prosecuted thousands of criminal cases. In his role as chairman of the American Freedom Initiative, he’s in the business of righting wrongs.
“While our system of justice is great, in rare instances it makes mistakes,” Whitaker told the Lone Star Standard.
The American Freedom Initiative works to identify individuals in the federal prison system, such as Alice Marie Johnson, a great-grandmother whose life sentence was commuted by former President Donald Trump.
“Maybe the sentence was too long because of mandatory minimums or other legislative requirements, and the person had such an exemplary rehabilitation,” Whitaker said in an interview. “In each case we felt the person and society would benefit from them being reintegrated.”
In Collin County on Feb. 16, Rodney Reese was arrested for walking home on a street during the winter storm and spent one night in jail, according to CBS DFW News. The misdemeanor charge eventually was dropped.
“Arresting people for Class C misdemeanors should be used only on very rare occasions,” Whitaker said. “We need our police, whose job is becoming harder and harder, to be focused on the most serious crimes. There are opportunity costs to time being spent arresting people for traffic violations. As a prosecutor I would prefer that time is spent getting the real bad guys.”
Whitaker served as the interim attorney general under Trump. He is a former U.S. attorney and former Republican candidate for senator in Iowa.
The Texas Legislature is considering reforms to its criminal justice system, such as closing prisons and ending arrests for Class C offenses that don't require jail time.
The state has closed two of its more than 100 prisons due to understaffing, according to media reports.
“Texas has been leading on Smart on Crime initiatives that have done a lot to reduce the prison population,” Whitaker said. “If the state has excess capacity and expects to have further reductions in the prison population in the future, great. That is savings for taxpayers while keeping the tools needed for law enforcement to do its job.”
Founded in 2014, the Texas Smart-On-Crime Coalition (TSCC) is charged with reducing the state’s overreliance on incarceration.
Organizations involved include the Texas Association of Business, the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas.
“There are targeted reforms that can be pursued that protect and support all of our great police officers while dealing with the bad apples,” Whitaker said.
One area of potential reform is the practice of arresting individuals involved in fine-only offenses. About 64,000 people were arrested in 2019 for Class C misdemeanors, according to Rep. James White (R-Hillister).
“What I would tell the law enforcement leaders is I don't want your role being devalued,” he said in a recent podcast. “When children look at you on the street corner and they look at that badge, it’s a badge of a lot of importance. I want to lift you up. You are being lifted up.”
