Reform criminal-justice system
Even as Congress and the country appear hopelessly divided on almost everything, criminal-justice reform makes sense to everybody from President Obama to Charles Koch.
Lower crime rates, crowded prisons and tight budgets are among the factors fueling the movement. But so is new thinking about the nature of punishment, and a recognition that mandatory minimum sentences are neither fair nor fiscally prudent.
As the president noted in a discussion with law enforcement leaders on Thursday, “our criminal-justice system should treat people fairly regardless of race, wealth, station” and incarceration is one tool among others including drug diversion and treatment, effective re-entry programs, and prevention programs aimed at children.
Koch, CEO of Wichita-based Koch Industries, recently told Forbes magazine that criminal-justice reform can help fix poverty, and has raised concerns about prosecutorial abuses and inadequate legal representation as well as unduly harsh and disparate sentences.
The Charles Koch Institute is sponsoring a New Orleans summit Nov. 4-6 called “Advancing Justice: An Agenda for Human Dignity and Public Safety,” with speakers drawn from across the political and legal spectrums. The Kochs also have been involved in advocating for changes in civil asset forfeiture policies, and Koch Industries has stopped asking job applicants whether they’ve ever been convicted of a crime.
In a commentary early this year in Politico Magazine co-written with Koch Industries general counsel Mark Holden, Koch said: “After a sentence is served, we should restore all rights to youthful and nonviolent offenders, such as those involved in personal drug use violations. If ex-offenders can’t get a job, education or housing, how can we possibly expect them to have a productive life?”
In a key sign that the advocacy is leading to action, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 15-5 Thursday to advance a bill to the full Senate that would give judges more flexibility in sentencing of certain low-level drug offenders, create programs to reduce recidivism and better prepare inmates for release – without going easy on violent offenders and drug traffickers.
To his credit, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., last week became a co-sponsor of the bill, which also has been endorsed by the NAACP and American Civil Liberties Union. The House is working on its own legislation toward a similar goal.
Because congressional action would only apply to federal crimes and prisons, the movement must find favor in more states as well. Last week saw the launch of a campaign by Kansans United for Youth Justice to stop sending low- and moderate-risk youth offenders to prison or other out-of-home confinement but focus instead on local rehabilitation programs. A juvenile justice work group also is pursuing reform recommendations to present to the 2016 Legislature.
Of course, just as common sense promises to prevail on the nation’s overincarceration problem, an election approaches. Campaigns tend to bring out the ads touting toughness on crime as a saintly trait.
But the U.S. is home to 5 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of its prisoners. It’s time to stop devoting so many tax dollars to incarcerating so many nonviolent offenders, and destroying lives and communities in the process.
For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman
This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Reform criminal-justice system."