Obama to Push Criminal Justice Reform

“When President Obama arrives at the El Reno federal prison about 30 miles west of here on Thursday, he will go where no president has gone before, literally and maybe figuratively, too. In becoming the first sitting president to visit a federal prison, Mr. Obama will showcase an emerging bipartisan drive to overhaul America’s criminal justice system in a way none of his predecessors have tried, at least not in modern times,” the New York Times reports.

“Where other presidents worked to toughen life for criminals, Mr. Obama wants to make their conditions better. With 18 months left in office, he has embarked on a new effort to reduce sentences for nonviolent offenders; to make it easier for former convicts to re-enter society; and to revamp prison life by easing overcrowding, cracking down on inmate rape and limiting solitary confinement.”