Is there still support for criminal justice reform?

An odd thing was happening in Washington.

Democrats and Republicans were working together on criminal justice reform.

A bipartisan coalition stretching from the conservative Koch Brothers to the liberal American Civil Liberties Union with several lawmakers in between, banded together in an effort to reduce soaring prison populations and spending and reform the rigid system around sentencing.

Can that cooperation last in an increasingly divisive political climate — and with Attorney General Jeff Sessions tugging in the opposite direction? Proposed legislation points toward the pendulum swinging in the opposite direction.

There is now bipartisan support for a new bill that would create harsher penalties for people caught with possession or intent to sell opioids.

"I think you're seeing a political sea-change that's going on that started with the president who was campaigning on a very sort of law and order campaign platform," Justin George said. He is a Washington correspondent for the Marshall Project, and he joined MPR News for a conversation about the future of criminal justice reform.

The campaign rhetoric coupled with the appointment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions — who fought justice reform bill last year — marks a shift that hearkens back to the "tough on crime" era.

Holly Harris, executive director of the Justice Action Network, also joined MPR News, and she noted that the pendulum has moved, but it hasn't swung entirely in the opposite direction.

Louisiana recently passed its own reforms and is one of 12 other states to decrease their prison population and spending from 2010-2015.

"I would just caution any sort of suggestion that what is happening in Washington is indicative to what the American people want," Harris said.

The prevailing opinion among voters favors criminal justice reform.

George said there are three prongs that drew more conservatives to push for criminal justice reform:

• Does the current system work, and is it cost effective?

• Can we use forgiveness to help put families back together? Are the sentences really fair?

• Does sentencing reflect the differences between a drug crime and violent crime?

Harris, who is a conservative, hopes Republican leaders in power, like Sessions, can reframe their approach to this subject.

"What I would say to Mr. Sessions is: Shouldn't this be about public safety? This shouldn't be about political rhetoric or what you perceive to be popular. This should be about what truly lowers crime rates."

To hear the full conversation, use the audio player above.

This winter, MPR News with Kerri Miller hosted a series of discussions on criminal justice. We spoke about private prisons, the rising number of incarcerated women, reform in the eyes of a county attorney, the use of grand juries, what justice looks like in Native American communities and a general look at the system from the people who work in it.