President Obama Calls for Expansive Criminal Justice Reform, Reduction or End to Mandatory Minimums for Drug Offenses

President Obama Calls for Expansive Criminal Justice Reform, Reduction or End to Mandatory Minimums for Drug Offenses

During the 106th annual convention of the NAACP, President Obama called for expansive criminal justice reform across the United States.

“Mass incarceration makes our entire country worse off, and we need to do something about it.” said President Obama during the July 14th speech. “In too many cases, our criminal justice system ends up being a pipeline from underfunded, inadequate schools to overcrowded jails.”

Obama called for a change in the way mandatory minimum sentences are handled; “For non-violent drug crimes, we need to lower long mandatory minimum sentences—or get rid of them entirely”, he said. In addition to this change, Obama called for a reconsideration of solitary confinement, increased reentry programs for people leaving prison and an end to asking about criminal histories on job applications.

Obama capped the speech by calling on Congress to pass sentencing reform legislation by the end of the year.

– TheJointBlog