Bernie Sanders Calls U.S. Prison Numbers An 'International Embarrassment' - HuffPo

[WillyT]

Bernie Sanders Calls U.S. Prison Numbers An 'International Embarrassment'
He said jobs and education are a lot cheaper than prisons.
Kim Bellware - The Huffington Post
12/23/2015 11:26 pm ET

<snip>

CHICAGO -- Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pledged to make criminal justice reform a priority of his administration during a busy campaign stop in Chicago Wednesday afternoon.

“I consider reforming our criminal justice system one of the most important things that a president of the United States can do,” Sanders told supporters at a public event on the city's West Side. He said it was an "international embarrassment" that the U.S. incarceration rate is the highest in the world and said it would change under his presidency.

Sanders renewed calls to end for-profit prisons, remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances, eliminate the death penalty and end mandatory minimum sentencing.

"Too many lives have been destroyed because of police records," Sanders said, noting the issue affects both white and black Americans.

The disproportionately high rate of incarceration for black males and the criminalization of school-aged black Americans is "tragedy," Sanders said. "What a destruction of an entire generation."

His proposed solutions include investing more into jobs and education for young people.

"In the long run, I think it's a lot cheaper to send a kid to the University of Illinois than to jail," Sanders said to applause. He also said a demilitarized police force -- with more diversity and accountability to communities they serve -- was essential.

"I want police departments to look like their community, not like occupying forces."

Sanders acknowledged the "vast majority" of police were doing hard, dangerous and often stressful work. "But like anyone else, if that officer breaks the law, he must be held accountable."

<snip>

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-chicago_567b4f2ce4b0b958f65941f3

[msongs]

1. gee uncle bernie millions of others have known this for decades. welcome to the club :-) nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. Name one other candidate who dares mention it.

[Sunlei]

15. Its been said by many and IGNORED by our elected or candidates- except for one.

"We have more work to do when more young black men languish in prison than attend colleges and universities across America."
--Barack Obama, NAACP forum, July 12, 2007

search by dates, & years

[beam me up scottie]

17. Don't you mean except by two? Bernie has been speaking out for decades.

This isn't just opportunistic campaign rhetoric for him.

Where was Hillary?

[Sunlei]

18. How about showing a bill or two Senator Sanders has written in his years of elected service.

I agree he's been speaking out for decades but NONE of his elected peers have listened to him.

[beam me up scottie]

20. BEEP BEEP BEEP! Back up everyone, the goalposts are moving again! BEEP BEEP BEEP!

Sunlei

15. Its been said by many and IGNORED by our elected or candidates- except for one.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=947280

I proved you wrong and now you expect me to fetch evidence to refute your strawman?

How precious.

Merry Christmas: http://lmgtfy.com/

[Sunlei]

21. Merry Christmas. I know Senator Sanders has spoken about this for his entire elected career

He has spent years and years speaking as an elected person. What he lacks is peer support. It's a shame and to late for him to change now.

Sanders is who I donate to just because its good for Americans to finally hear him. Mrs. Clinton doesn't need donations from the little people.

[beam me up scottie]

22. He has a pretty good record, actually.

Bernie Gets It Done: Sanders' Record of Pushing Through Major Reforms Will Surprise You

Sorry if the snark was misplaced, I'm so used to defending him against smears here I didn't realize you were a supporter.

[Ken Burch]

19. That would be the same Barack Obama who never even tried to do anything about that

until the GOP takeover of Congress had happened and any change was impossible.

[Luminous Animal]

3. Indeed. Bernie did a fine speech agaisnt it prior to Bill Clinton's omnibus

crime bill.

[Cali_Democrat]

9. The same crime bill that Bernie voted for? nt

[beam me up scottie]

14. Because it contained the Violence Against Women act and an assault weapons ban:

Sanders opposed the Violent Crime Prevention Act of 1991 during his first year in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"All over the industrialized world now, countries are saying, ‘let us put an end to state murder, let us stop capital punishment’," Sanders said in a 1991 speech on the House floor. "But here what we’re talking about is more and more capital punishment."

The bill, which included provisions to authorize the death penalty as appropriate punishment for crimes involving the murder of a law enforcement officer, terrorism and drug trafficking, never reached the desk of President George H.W. Bush.

In 1994, however, Sanders voted in favor of the final version of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, a bill that expanded the federal death penalty. Sanders had voted for an amendment to the bill that would have replaced all federal death sentences with life in prison. Even though the amendment failed, Sanders still voted for the larger crime bill.

A spokesman for Sanders said he voted for the bill "because it included the Violence Against Women Act and the ban on certain assault weapons."

http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/sep/02/viral-image/where-do-hillary-clinton-and-bernie-sanders-stand-/

If he hadn't voted for it you all would be calling him a gun nut who approved of violence against women.

Obvious poster is obvious.

[beam me up scottie]

13. Bernie's been speaking out about this for decades, try to keep up. From 1991:

gee uncle bernie millions of others have known this for decades. welcome to the club nt

Don't Hillary supporters ever get tired of embarrassing themselves?

[cali]

23. Uncle Bernie has been denouncing it and proposing changes forearms. Hill takes money

From the industry and has said and done just about zip,but you hit on Bernie? I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning

[LWolf]

4. K & R

[farleftlib]

5. This is the elephant in the room

For-profit prisons are a disgrace. It would be a huge fight. but at least Bernie is willing to take this on, unlike the other candidates who seem just fine with it.

[HereSince1628]

6. And disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands or millions of voters?

A system that incorporates into law methods for the minority to control and subjugate the remainder is all definitions notwithstanding core evidence of tyranny.

[Zorra]

7. K&R nt

[farleftlib]

8. Bernie once again demonstrating

he is willing to take on the tyranny of the Prison Industrial Complex, and the death penalty. WTG, Bernie!

[senz]

10. Once again, he is right.

[Uncle Joe]

11. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, WillyT.

[AgingAmerican]

12. Prison is a business in the US

Mass incarceration maximizes profits.

It's that simple

[Sunlei]

16. Can they pass a law where no federal or state money is paid to any 'for profit' prison/detention?

$150 per day-per prisoner, Free-Gov. money handed over to 'for profit' Corp is why Americas prison populations will continue to skyrocket.


How about another law to stop any local gov. from cash, property seizure, or revenue from tickets benefiting only the local 'small gov'.

[LettuceSea]

24. This will be a problem in FL, OH if HRC is the nominee

Lots of non-college educated black folk in FL, OH, VA who know all about the Prison for Profit system...