The United States of America is good at lots of
things. In fact, our country is so
outstanding at so many things, a number of politicos routinely boast that we
are an “exceptional nation.” On occasion,
it’s necessary and appropriate to frame a particular concept in its proper
context. While there is a tendency to
think of “Exceptionalism” as a desirable construct, a state to be admired and
aspired to, that is not necessarily the case.
An example of one such counterintuitive instance
is the incarceration rate. Long a point
of contention for ethicists and other people of good will who care about the
fair and equitable treatment of human beings all over the planet, the issue is
drawing special attention this week in the United States. President Obama commuted the sentences of 46
nonviolent offenders earlier this week, and is set to go to prison tomorrow.
Oh wait, you thought… OK, he’s not really “going” to prison, he’s going to visit a prison. Sorry GOP
partisans.
Yes, for the first time in the history of the
world, a sitting President of Exceptional
America, the shining light on the hill, will visit a Federal Prison. On
tomorrow, President Obama is scheduled to visit
El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in El Reno, Oklahoma.
The facility is a medium-security United States federal prison for male
inmates. It is operated by the Federal
Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice, and currently holds 1,000 inmates, 265 of whom are in prison camp.
Perhaps the most notable inmate currently
residing at the facility is Kwame Kilpatrick, Register Number 44678-039, former Mayor of Detroit, (2002-2008). He was convicted of racketeering conspiracy and other
charges in 2013 for using his office to commit extortion, bribery
and fraud. Mr. Kilpatrick is serving a 28-year sentence,
and is scheduled for release in 2037.
Two days ago
the White House announced that President Obama had commuted the sentences of
several dozen offenders, most convicted for nonviolent drug offenses. Officials say this move illustrates the
President’s commitment to criminal justice reform. In a video posted
to the White House's Facebook page, President Obama said:
“These
men and women were not hardened criminals.
Their punishments didn’t fit the crime.”
Interestingly,
while the President’s move commuted a number of sentences, he did not grant any
Pardons. On many occasion, Mr. Obama has
eloquently addressed notions of grace and redemption. However, he has been MIA (Missing In Action) when
it comes to the issue of Pardons. His
paucity in that area is so severe; one has to go all the way back to President
James Garfield to find a President who granted fewer Pardons than the 64 that
President Obama has. This is even more
noteworthy when you consider President Garfield died from an assassin’s bullet
in 18881, just over six months after he had been sworn in. President Obama, of course, has been in
office over six years.
Doug Berman,
an Ohio State University law professor, who has studied Presidential Pardons,
say of President Obama:
“He’s
been unusually stingy – he’s a clemency Grinch.”
A number of
critics, and some current and former officials say the President’s lack of
activism in this area reflects his determination to avoid the type of
controversies that followed President Clinton, such as the uproar that ensued
when President Clinton Pardoned fugitive financier Marc Rich on his last day in
office.
P.S.
Ruckman, Jr., a political science professor who writes a blog, “Pardon Power,”
says:
“It’s just not something he’s
interested in.”
He ranks
President Obama as “the seventh least merciful” President in history.
The
President, in his own defense, blamed the Office of Pardons Attorney, whose Chief,
Ronald Rodgers, resigned last year amid disclosures that he had
misrepresented a commutation applicant’s record to the White House. A former journalist, Deborah Leff, now heads
the Office. Of the situation, the
President said:
“I
noticed that what I was getting [from the Pardon Office] was mostly small-time
crimes from very long ago.”
He vowed to
be more aggressive on petitions during his remaining time in office.
It was
important to note the President’s differentiation between commutations and pardons
in order to view his move to push for judicial reform in a balanced light. It is refreshing that this President is
moving to address a system that has treated black and brown people
specifically, and the poor in general, in a way that can rightly be called
ruthlessly. By the same token, it’s
worth noting that three-quarters of the way through his tenure, this President,
who has done many remarkable things, has been an underwhelming player in
addressing some areas of judicial inequity.
The good news is, there are 18 months left in this Presidency, and lots
of people will be focused on the 2016 Presidential Election. That may allow the President some oxygen and
space to continue to expand the areas in which he leaves an indelible and
positive mark on the American landscape.
Judicial
reform is certainly an area of opportunity, and incarceration policy and
practices make great targets. America is
to incarceration, what CNN claims to be to news, the Worldwide Leader. So altogether now, let’s hear the
cheer…”We’re Number 1!” What a dubious
distinction.
The United
States accounts for roughly 4 percent of the world’s population. Contrast that to the fact we account for 22
percent of the world’s prison population, and as you can see, we are vastly
overrepresented in that category. In
1970, there were approximately 200,000 incarcerated Americans. By 1990, that number had increased to nearly
a million. By 2008, at its peak, the
number was around 1,600,000.
In the
‘70’s, America transitioned from the Sex, Drugs, and Rock-N-Roll era of the
‘60’s to a Law and Order society. To
that end, the Prison industrial complex was born, and incarceration ceased
being the primary purview of bureaucrats, and became principally a functioning
for profit enterprise. Partly as a
result, an ugly dichotomy emerged.
The crime
rate peaked in the ‘80’s. Yet when
President Bill Clinton became President in 1992, expanding crime fighting by
increasing incarceration levels was still the favored prescription. To wit, President Clinton enacted tougher
sentencing laws that not only sent more people to prison, but applied longer
sentences. Factor in vastly disparate
sentencing for crack (principal urban drug choice) and powdered cocaine (principal
suburban drug choice), and the deluge of imprisoned people of color was a fait
accompli.
As we
approach the midpoint of the second decade of the21st Century, politicians on
both sides of the aisle are beginning to recognize the enormous ill effects of
this questionable policy gone totally wrong.
The deleterious economic consequences of subtracting hundreds of
thousands of able bodied potential employees for the workforce deprives both
business and families at a time critical to individuals, companies, and the
nation.
I look
forward to hearing what the President has to say about reforming the criminal
justice system while he is at El Reno tomorrow.
He will be interviewed for the HBO newsmagazine series “Vice” on the
issue. The segment will air this
fall. However, he likely previewed the
theme when he spoke at the 2015 NAACP Convention last night in
Philadelphia. There he raised the topic
and argued it is one America can’t afford to ignore. In laying out his vision for fixing the
criminal justice system, he noted a need to focus on communities, courtrooms,
and cellblocks. He announced a federal
review of the use of solitary confinement, and urged Congress to pass a
sentencing reform bill by the end of the year.
He also called for voting rights restoration to felons who have served
their sentences, and suggested employers eliminate the box asking job
candidates about their past convictions.
In a nod to his commutations earlier this week, he said long mandatory
minimum sentences now in place should be reduced – or discarded entirely.
Taken in
total, tomorrow should be an exciting day for Oklahomans, in general, and for
the inhabitants and employees of the El Reno Prison. The word is out; “President Obama is Going to Jail: A Presidential First!” But remember, he’s just visiting.
I’m done; holla back!
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