The Senate Judiciary Committee’s passage of a drug sentencing bill is a significant step forward for criminal justice reform, said Kara Gotsch, of The Sentencing Project, especially in light of the Trump administration’s plans to put more people in prison. The U.S. Justice Department projects a 5 percent increase in prison population. “While they anticipate the population going up, they also plan to slash jobs” in the prisons, said Gotsch, despite an “overcrowding crisis” in the federal system.