HuffPo | Former President Bill Clinton is urging politicians to take a stand
on criminal justice reform and take concrete steps toward reducing the
country's prison population.
In a foreword for a new book of essays
on criminal justice reform complied by New York University School of
Law's Brennan Center for Justice, Clinton says the tough-on-crime
policies of the 1990s "overshot the mark" on incarceration.
"The
drop in violence and crime in America has been an extraordinary national
achievement," Clinton writes. "But plainly, our nation has too many
people in prison and for too long -- we have overshot the mark. With
just 5 percent of the world’s population, we now have 25 percent of its
prison population, and an emerging bipartisan consensus now understands
the need to do better."
The U.S. is estimated to have a prison population of more than 2.4 million people, and incarcerates more of its population than any other nation in the world. As The Guardian notes, the prison rate increased signifcantly during Clinton's tenure in office.
Clinton
says the policies implemented during his years as president were
effective in reducing violent crime, but added that many of the measures
were "overly broad instead of appropriately tailored."
"Some are
in prison who shouldn't be, others are in for too long, and without a
plan to educate, train, and reintegrate them into our communities, we
all suffer," he writes.
