Hillary Clinton on Friday announced new policies for criminal justice reform, advocating a break with “mass incarceration.” The move firmly places the Democratic presidential front-runner’s crime policies closer to the administration of President Barack Obama than to that of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
Hillary Clinton’s new plan includes cutting prison time for non-violent offenses and reducing the application of mandatory minimum sentences. Her proposal would not only reduce federal mandatory sentences going forward, but also create a process for early release of some inmates currently behind bars. She would also expand a “safety valve” rule that gives judges more discretion to reduce sentences when warranted – a fix backed by Democratic reformers like Sen. Pat Leahy and libertarians like Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who’s seeking the GOP nomination.
Clinton says she would also reform the excessive use of “strikes” to lengthen prison sentences. Under federal law, many past crimes are counted as “strikes” against a defendant, adding years to any new sentence. Clinton aides say she would cut non-violent drug offenses from that list of crimes.
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A convict’s past drug use shouldn’t automatically add prison time, many advocates say — arguing that judges are better positioned to make that decision than one-size-fits all national rules.
The federal use of “strikes” was expanded under President Bill Clinton’s crime bill. In 1995, Clinton said that tough-on-crime rule “slammed the door” shut on career criminals.
The former president reversed course on that legislation this summer, however, telling a NAACP gathering the law had actually “made the problem worse.”
Those comments can be seen as a path for Hillary Clinton to make a larger break with what was once a key part of her husband’s domestic legacy – or simply a factual reassessment in line with mounting data about shortcomings in the drug war.








