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NCTraveler

(30,481 posts)
Thu May 7, 2015, 08:22 AM May 2015

Hillary Clinton’s Bold Move

In a major speech delivered last week in the wake of unrest in Baltimore, Hillary Clinton made a stirring and unequivocal case for reforming the criminal justice system. “There is something profoundly wrong when African American men are still far more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes, and sentenced to longer prison terms than are meted out to their white counterparts,” Clinton said. “There is something wrong when a third of all black men face the prospect of prison during their lifetimes.”

The speech was hailed as significant for a number of reasons. For one thing, it confirmed that, 21 years after her husband signed a bill making the criminal justice system much more punitive, Clinton has definitively come to the conclusion that the nation’s out-of-control incarceration rate is a problem that needs fixing. The speech underscored that justice reform will enjoy full-throated support on both sides of the aisle during the 2016 election, which has attracted multiple candidates on the Republican side who strongly believe America’s courts are sending too many people to prison for too long.

But Clinton’s speech was important for another reason, too, one that hasn’t been widely acknowledged thus far. In pegging her remarks about mass incarceration to the killing of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, and making a point of calling for both prison and police reform in the same breath, Clinton was making a nontrivial connection between unfair law enforcement practices and unfair prison policy. And while that connection may seem self-evident to some, the fact is that politicians often treat them as separate issues, and many influential figures on the right who have come out as criminal justice reformers—including Newt Gingrich, Jeb Bush, Rick Perry, and the mega-donors Charles and David Koch—have not been willing to make the link.

Read More At: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2015/05/hillary_clinton_baltimore_speech_the_candidate_embraces_police_reform_and.html

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JustABozoOnThisBus

(23,283 posts)
1. I don't see the discussion on "prison reform"
Thu May 7, 2015, 08:27 AM
May 2015

I see where she talked about discrimination by police, and by sentencing judges, but nothing about the prison system.

Interesting note about cops seizing property. There's a neat little bit of graft and corruption that should be addressed.

 

NCTraveler

(30,481 posts)
4. I'm with ya.
Thu May 7, 2015, 08:35 AM
May 2015

You see a lot of that in reporting these days. Pretty sad. I do still think it is worth reading. Thanks for your reply. I will say that from the very start the system needs drastic change. I do think the police and judges are every bit a part of the prison system. Still not enough in the article to say she is making a stand to take on the full system. The privatization of the prison system needs to end. But even that would result in failure. We need to look at who we are arresting, the true damage they are doing to society compared with the punishment(should be rehabilitation), and how we protect the ones we determine do need to be removed from society for a period of time. This is not a made up situation. Right now, at Orient Road in Tampa, you can have someone brought in on extremely violent charges housed in the same "tank" as completely non-violent offenders. The whole thing is crap.

 

cali

(114,904 posts)
2. hardly bold. as usual, Hillary wants it both ways.
Thu May 7, 2015, 08:30 AM
May 2015

She doesn't offer specifics and she's late to calling for reforms to the criminal justice system. Many have been doing that for years and years.

glad she made the speech, but it ain't bold.

 

NCTraveler

(30,481 posts)
6. I agree that it isn't all that bold. It is a stand, and a good one.
Thu May 7, 2015, 08:36 AM
May 2015

I wasn't going to change or omit the headline. Some positive things in there.

 

JaneyVee

(19,877 posts)
7. I like how low key her campaign is so far while still...
Thu May 7, 2015, 08:37 AM
May 2015

Leading on these issues. They understand that the election is still 18 months out and people don't want election fatigue while still emerging to take a firm stand on these important issues, quietly building support.

CentralMass

(15,265 posts)
10. The problem seems to be that her campaign will continue to be these type of releases about generic
Thu May 7, 2015, 08:55 AM
May 2015

support for things like people rights, the environment, income equity, to paint an image of her values. Yet she will avoid taking a a stance on any related legislation that doesn't square with the corporate overlords on Wall St. Where it counts, she will assure her corporate backers that she has their back while giving the unwashed masses lip service.

I supported her and voted for her in 2008 but the last 7 years of listening to great rhetoric vs the scale tipped heavily in favor of Wall St rater then Main St has left deeply cynical. Bernie Sanders seems to be unabashedly speaking honestly on where he stands on real issues. At this point he is my clear primary favorite.

 

JaneyVee

(19,877 posts)
11. She has already come out in support of regulating Wall Street...
Thu May 7, 2015, 09:10 AM
May 2015

And she has taken a firm stand on inequality, immigration, marriage equality, and police brutality. These are stances she cannot back pedal without getting crucified by the media and supporters, so she must now defend these positions. And these positions are a stark contrast from Republican candidate positions.

Ikonoklast

(23,973 posts)
15. Hillary loves babies and puppies and kittens, too.
Thu May 7, 2015, 11:42 AM
May 2015


Watches which way the parade is headed, then tries to run to the head of it.


Triangulation Express.

Thinkingabout

(30,058 posts)
9. Now how would we ever expect there would be anything, any agenda, and any thoughts Hillary
Thu May 7, 2015, 08:47 AM
May 2015

reveals would result in trashing of the information. She is trashed for not posting on her web site all of her stands on the agenda. She is putting her agenda as she goes on her campaign and I am waiting for the opportunity to see she isn't trashed on this.

She is talking about reforming the criminal justice system, apparently some does not want this to happen. I question the sincerity of her critics.

calimary

(80,699 posts)
12. The only "link" the koch brothers care about making is the link between themselves and more
Thu May 7, 2015, 09:35 AM
May 2015

money and power and influence.

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