Obama on Mass Incarceration

It is to the belief of many of us out here in criminal justice land that at some point in his next term, President Obama will address the issue of mass incarceration. Criminal Justice reform was a strong point for Obama as a state legislator and he spoke to the subject the first time he ran for president, so none of us are worried about his comprehension of the issue. He even stated in a recent Time magazine interview that he believes “over-incarceration for non-violent offenses as a real problem”, reports Ethan Nadelmann of the Huffington Post. The President’s administration did, however, fight to bring the disparity between the sentences for cocaine and crack cocaine back to a "reasonable" level.

1 in every 32 Americans is under the supervision of the criminal justice system. As Senator Jim Webb stated, “ Either we have the most evil people on earth living in America; or we are doing something dramatically wrong in terms of how we approach the issue of criminal justice.”  As much money that goes into the criminal justice system and as big of a problem as it is, why has the President been so silent on the issue? According to some of his aids, he has bigger fish to fry. Given the issue sin this country with the economy, climate change, immigration, and the recent resurfacing of intensity in the gun control debate, I do believe we have some pretty big fish in the kitchen. But does that make criminal justice issues any less important? Statistically they affect just as many Americans as any other issue and from a budget standpoint, cost us even more.

Another answer some of his aids have given is, given the scale of the race and discrimination issues within the problems of the criminal justice system, being the first black president has made him particularly hesitant to tackle the issue. Shouldn’t that encourage him to be more open about the issue? Doesn’t that make his leadership on the issue that much more important?

Well we have another term. Four more years to try to accomplish something on these issues. Some fear that they will not be addressed until so late in the term and they will be approached with such an extreme amount of caution, that nothing worthwhile will actually be accomplished. All I can say to that is we will see. 

LH