Bill Clinton in Brennan Center for Justice essays

On Crime: End over-imprisonment for non-serious crimes

We have a genuine chance at bipartisan cooperation [on] the over-imprisonment of people who did not commit serious crimes. The drop in violence & crime in America has been an extraordinary national achievement. But plainly, our nation has too many people in prison and for too long--we have overshot the mark. It has been two decades since there was sustained national attention to criminal justice. By 1994, violent crime had tripled in 30 years

But now it's time to take a clear-eyed look at what worked, what didn't, and what produced unintended, consequences. So many of these laws worked well, especially those that put more police on the streets. But too many laws were overly broad instead of appropriately tailored. A very small number of people commit a large percentage of serious crimes--and society gains when that relatively small group is behind bars. But some are in prison who shouldn't be, others are in for too long, and without a plan to reintegrate them into our communities.

Source: Brennan Center for Justice essays, p. v Apr 28, 2015

The above quotations are from SOLUTIONS American Leaders Speak Out on Criminal Justice Brennan Center for Justice essays Edited by Inimai Chettiar and Michael Waldman. Click here for other excerpts from SOLUTIONS American Leaders Speak Out on Criminal Justice Brennan Center for Justice essays Edited by Inimai Chettiar and Michael Waldman. Click here for other excerpts by Bill Clinton. Click here for a profile of Bill Clinton.
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