A First Step Out of Prison

After her sentence is reduced, a nonviolent offender lands a job at Walmart, thanks to Jared Kushner

This story is part of The Trump 45, a special package about Trump’s impact on individual lives.

On Friday, February 1, 2019, Katherine Toney was finishing a resume workshop when her name was called over the FCI Coleman prison intercom system. She was told to come to the administrative office — for what, she had no idea. Her confusion only increased when the prison’s secretary asked her a question she hadn’t considered in over a decade: “Ms. Toney, how do you feel about going home today?”

Six weeks before, President Trump signed the First Step Act into law. Aimed at overhauling the criminal justice system, the bill had bipartisan support from legislators and advocates across the political spectrum, including Sens. Ted Cruz and Kamala Harris, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Fraternal Order of Police, and the NAACP. Van Jones and #cut50 were especially instrumental in designing and pushing the legislation.

The Act’s reforms weren’t sweeping, but they were significant. Among its most prominent elements: an expansion of rehabilitative opportunities, a ban on shackling pregnant and postpartum women, and a promise to bring home 4,000 people…