A local pastor and religious adviser to the president is praising Trump's apparent efforts at criminal justice reform.
Wednesday night, Trump announced he would support the bipartisan plan developed by top adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner to reform the prison system.
The "First Step Act" would be designed to improve rehabilitation programs for former prisoners and give judges more discretion in sentencing offenders for non-violent crimes, especially drug offenders.
The president said it would "make our communities safer and give former inmates a second chance at life after they have served their time."
On Twitter, Thursday, Gainesville pastor of Free Chapel Church Jentezen Franklin voiced his support for the President on the issue.
"So pleased with the hard work @realDonaldTrump , Jared Kushner, @IvankaTrump , @Paula_White and other faith leaders and a bipartisan group of lawmakers have done to craft the First Step Act," he tweeted.
Franklin continued, saying that the nation was finally at the "crossroads of being able to make this dream a reality" after years of talking about prison reform.
"This is the fruit of a diverse coalition of Americans who believe those in prison deserve a second chance at life," he said in a statement. "Overhauling mandatory minimum sentencing, greater funding for anti-recidivism programs and treating drug addiction more as a disease to be cured than a crime to be punished — These are just a few of the First Step Act reforms that are long overdue."
He concluded by calling on Congress to "get this over the finish line."
Franklin is a member of the president's religious council and has often spoken publicly about the administration's positions on national issues.
In a 2017 interview with 11Alive's Cheryl Preheim in the first months after Trump took office, Franklin said after advising the president that he got the impression that "he cares."
But this past January, he broke with the president and voiced his disappointment at the use of derogatory words Trump reportedly used to describe African nations and Haiti.
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"I don't agree with what the president said about certain nations, and how that -- I'm not going to repeat his words," Franklin said. "But God loves, and God sees greatness, and when we get to Heaven, there's going to be people of every kindred and of every tongue and of every nation."
He's also spoken to 11Alive about immigration, saying "These people matter."
