Congress’s big, bipartisan success that might be just beginning

It isn’t often that Congress reaches across party lines to pass legislation on a serious national issue, so it could be forgiven a congratulatory pat on the back.

The House and Senate are moving toward passing a bill that would change the guidelines for mandatory minimum sentencing and solitary confinement of juveniles. The effort is the product of a growing consensus that decades of “tough on crime” policies – including mandatory minimum sentences for low-level drug offenders – filled prisons across the country to the breaking point. The bill could reach President Obama’s desk this year, and he has said he will sign it, leading to celebrations of actual bipartisanship.

But as Congress moves toward a conspicuous success, the emerging question is whether the bill marks the beginning of a new era of criminal justice reform or simply a one-off…

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