Rand Paul returns to Howard University for criminal justice reform discussion

[jct74]

Rand Paul returns to Howard University

By Katie Zezima
April 16

Sen. Rand Paul returned to Howard University Thursday, two years after a trip to campus that was filled with fumbles.

Paul (R-Ky.), who announced earlier this month that he is running for president, has made criminal justice reform one of his signature issues. He seems to have found his footing when talking about race, and honed his pitch here Thursday and last month at Bowie State University in Maryland.

He came back to Howard for on a panel on criminal justice reform with other members of Congress, including Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), with whom he has co-sponsored legislation on criminal justice and medical marijuana, and Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho).

Paul said he thinks that changing the criminal justice system "is becoming a right/left thing" with people in both parties calling for some felony convictions to become misdemeanors, particularly for low-level drug offenses. By doing away with mandatory minimum sentences for some crimes, he said, people would have an easier job finding employment.

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read more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/04/16/rand-paul-returns-to-howard-university/




Sen. Rand Paul Participates in Bipartisan Panel Discussion on Criminal Justice Reform at Howard University

04.17.15

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Rand Paul yesterday took his conservative message of criminal justice reform to Howard University, a historically black college in Washington, D.C. The panel discussion titled, “From Protest to Politics: A Bipartisan Approach to Criminal Justice Reform” was moderated by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD). Panelists participating in the discussion included: Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Reps. Raul Labrador (R-ID), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and Delegate Stacey Plaskett (D-VI).

“The War on Drugs has had a disproportional affect on minorities and our inner cities. Our current system is broken and has trapped tens of thousands of young men and women in a cycle of poverty and incarceration. It is my hope that my criminal justice reform legislation will help many of these young people escape this trap by reforming our criminal justice system, expunging records after time served, and preventing non-violent crimes from becoming a permanent blot on one's record,” Sen. Paul said.

http://www.paul.senate.gov/news/press/sen-rand-paul-participates-in-bipartisan-panel-discussion-on-criminal-justice-reform-at-howard-university

[jct74]

more from Salon:


In the first panel, Paul began by saying that he’s always been “skeptical” of the War on Drugs — which, for all intents and purposes, appears to be true; he’s on the record criticizing drug policy as far back as 2000. Although he credited reading Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow” for his awakening to the racial disparities of the drug war, “I always thought the War on Drugs was unfair,” Paul said. As he has done in the past, Paul noted that three out of four people in prison are people of color. However, in terms of how those racial disparities came about, he said, “I don’t think it’s all racism,” suggesting that some of it might be “inadvertent.”

Paul also touched on the use of solitary confinement for juveniles, referencing the Kalief Browder case detailed last year in The New Yorker: In 2010, a 16-year-old Browder was arrested for stealing a backpack, a crime he’d been accused of by a stranger. He was incarcerated for nearly three years without ever getting a trial. (He was eventually released in 2013, and is now suing the NYPD, the Bronx District Attorney, and New York City Department of Corrections.) Despite being just a teenager, Browder spent hundreds of days in solitary confinement. Recounting the story, Paul said, “That shouldn’t happen in America.”

The Kentucky senator voiced support for the idea of making some felonies into misdemeanors, citing California’s success with Proposition 47. Prop 47, a ballot initiative passed by voters last November, has reduced certain nonviolent felonies to misdemeanors and allowed for the resentencing of current inmates. It resulted in the release of 2,700 inmates and, as Paul noted, it has freed up space in California’s overcrowded prison system. It’s a promising way to start ending the War on Drugs.

Addressing other drug war-era legislation, Paul talked about civil asset forfeiture: Last year, the senator introduced FAIR (the Fifth Amendment Restoration Act) in an effort to curb the process, by which the government can seize property suspected of being involved in a crime without needing sufficient evidence to bring any criminal charges. At Howard, he expressed optimism that the legislation would move forward.

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/20/rand_paul_returns_to_the_scene_of_the_crime_drug_w ar_crusade_takes_him_back_to_howard_university/

[jmdrake]

Rand's minority outreach initiative is genius. I already know one Obama supporter that said she'll vote for Rand in the primary and the general election.