Clinton: It's time for an end to the era of mass incarceration

[Beet]

If Hillary is elected president, she will immediately pass the FMLA, let gays into the military (so long as they don't tell), raid Waco, sign NAFTA, and pass a bill requiring background checks for gun purchases. Whitney Houston will always sing "I Will Always Love You", the Russian economy will shrink 9%, Yitzhak Rabin will become PM of Israel and win the Nobel Peace Prize, and we'll all have to turn out calendars back to 1993. Nothing about Hillary can ever deviate from Bill circa 1993.

In all seriousness, good for her!

[Beet]

I'm entirely unenthusiastic about body cameras, which are expensive, require all kinds of cumbersome IT infrastructure, and - shockingly - tend to be deployed in ways that favor the police more than they favor the public. I'd much prefer to rely on democratic surveillance (i.e cell phone cameras and YouTube) rather than spending billions so that law enforcement can selectively release whatever videos fit their account of events whenever accusations of police brutality crop up.

"Democratic surveillance" isn't always available. Also, riots are expensive. Police brutality is expensive. Basically, "it costs money" and "it requires IT" are such generic objections, that they could be applied to anything. By the same vein, one could argue that they would provide extra stimulus and create jobs. Also, body cameras have a measurable effect on police behavior.

[Beet]

I'm entirely unenthusiastic about body cameras, which are expensive, require all kinds of cumbersome IT infrastructure, and - shockingly - tend to be deployed in ways that favor the police more than they favor the public. I'd much prefer to rely on democratic surveillance (i.e cell phone cameras and YouTube) rather than spending billions so that law enforcement can selectively release whatever videos fit their account of events whenever accusations of police brutality crop up.

"Democratic surveillance" isn't always available. Also, riots are expensive. Police brutality is expensive. Basically, "it costs money" and "it requires IT" are such generic objections, that they could be applied to anything. By the same vein, one could argue that they would provide extra stimulus and create jobs. Also, body cameras have a measurable effect on police behavior.

I'm extremely skeptical of sort of editorial page cost-benefit analysis that concludes that a sweeping policy proposed in the immediate aftermath of a dramatic event is "common sense." And not just under certain circumstances, but everywhere.

The administrative costs aren't negligible, either (e.g. the Baltimore city government estimated that it would require $2.6 million per year just to store and manage the data from police cameras).

If evaluations emerge that show that body cameras have a sustained and significant effect on police behavior, I'll adjust my opinion accordingly, but for now I would much prefer to see the money go toward more beat cops and, in general, community policing.

Sometimes, it takes a big dramatic event, or series of events, to push forward momentum for change. In any case, if we're going to be judging Clinton by her husband's record, I'll point out that Bill was a huge champion of community policing.

[Beet]

Most people in prison are there for violating state laws, not federal ones.

http://articles.latimes.com/2001/feb/19/news/mn-27373

You must be logged in to read this quote.

It's also worth nothing that Bill Clinton himself has said that part of the act was a mistake:

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/bill-clinton-prison-sentences-take-center-stage-2016

You must be logged in to read this quote.

[Beet]

Most people in prison are there for violating state laws, not federal ones.

Well, then I guess we can't blame a former 12 year governor of the state with the 8th highest incarceration rate for that.

Arkansas' incarceration rate was actually at the national average in 1992, and below the average for states in the South.

[Beet]

Statements without a track record are pointless. She's pandering at its finest. She doesn't actually care about black people.

She's old enough to have a track record on almost anything.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/us/politics/05clinton.html?pagewanted=2

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/us/politics/05clinton.html?pagewanted=2

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3071712

It's hard to find an unbiased source on it (because her role in this was either grossly exaggerated or minimized depending on whether was coming from one of her detractors or defenders), but Hillary also helped with monitoring of the trial of Black Panthers on trial in 1969 for the suspected murder of a police informant.

She's the only serious presidential contender that I know of who has had a black campaign manager.

And there's the fact that John Lewis endorsed her both in 2008 and for 2016.

Her statements about mass incarceration are in line with previous statements from 2007

You must be logged in to read this quote.