3 Philadelphia Eagles Meet with State Legislators for Criminal Justice Reform

Three Philadelphia Eagles — Malcolm Jenkins, Chris Long and Torrey Smith — went to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania recently to talk to state legislators about criminal justice reform.

USA Today has the details:

Malcolm Jenkins, Chris Long and Torrey Smith got up early Tuesday morning after their team beat the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football, to lobby for reform, something Jenkins has been involved with for a while.

“It takes a lot of sacrifice but the ball has been rolled and that’s a good thing,” Jenkins told NBC Philadelphia. “We’ve seen other guys getting involved in their communities, other teams, other players. And, a lot of that comes from leading by example.”

Jenkins, Long and Smith were involved in discussions about reform on a national level with the NFL and it led to the proposal of a bill, called the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017. It aims to limit the scope of mandatory minimum prison sentences that would target only the most serious drug and violent criminal offenders.

Long promised to donate his entire 2017 salary to a variety of education charities and Jenkins is one of the NFL players who has protested by raising his fist during the national anthem.

Jenkins said, “It takes a lot of sacrifice but the ball has been rolled and that’s a good thing. We’ve seen other guys getting involved in their communities, other teams, other players. And, a lot of that comes from leading by example.”

Some people have taken umbrage at the fact that these players are willing to go to such great lengths to create reform at the state level for criminals.  Former Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke, for example, tweeted: “NFL players go to PA state legis, not for law biding blacks or against failed lib urban policies but for CRIMINALS.”

NFL players go to PA state legis, not for law biding blacks or against failed lib urban policies but for CRIMINALS. https://t.co/MIt2DRoWU5

— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) October 30, 2017

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Hat Tip: USA Today