HuffPo | Hillary Clinton will deliver a major speech on criminal justice
reform Wednesday, calling for fundamental changes to how the United
States punishes its citizens and an end to a system that
disproportionately targets black men.
Clinton is scheduled to keynote
the 18th Annual David N. Dinkins Leadership and Public Policy Forum at
Columbia University Wednesday morning. It will be her most significant
policy address since she launched her 2016 presidential bid this month.
Clinton
will lay out her vision for criminal justice reform, centering around
an "end to the era of mass incarceration," according to an aide who
provided a preview of her remarks. Those changes include addressing
probation and drug diversion programs, increasing support for mental
health and drug treatment and pursuing alternative punishments for
low-level offenders.
She also will call for body cameras for every police department in
order to increase transparency and accountability in a way that benefits
both officers and members of the public.
In a December speech to the Massachusetts Conference for Women, Clinton said the country needed to look at "hard truths" about racial injustice in the current system.
Clinton will revive that theme on Wednesday, saying black men are far more likely than whites to be targeted by police and slapped with longer prison sentences.
During a fundraising event in New York City Tuesday, Clinton addressed the tensions in Baltimore, which is still reeling from the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died after sustaining injuries while in police custody.
“It
is heartbreaking,” Clinton said. “The tragic death of another young
African-American man. The injuries to police officers. The burning of
peoples’ homes and small businesses. We have to restore order and
security. But then we have to take a hard look as to what we need to do
to reform our system.”
Clinton will also make additional comments about Baltimore on Wednesday.
Clinton's
rhetoric on criminal justice has changed significantly since the 1990s,
when she was first lady and when President Bill Clinton signed a
massive 1994 crime bill into law. At the time, many politicians in both
parties -- including Clinton herself -- were pushing for more prisons and stricter sentencing laws.
