Obama Administration Works on Both the Front and Back End of Criminal Justice Reform

[sheshe2]

Josh Mitchell and Joe Palazzolo report that the Obama administration is about to announce another back-end reform.

The Obama administration plans to restore federal funding for prison inmates to take college courses, a potentially controversial move that comes amid a broader push to overhaul the criminal justice system.

The plan, set to be unveiled Friday by the secretary of education and the attorney general, would allow potentially thousands of inmates in the U.S. to gain access to Pell grants, the main form of federal aid for low-income college students. The grants cover up to $5,775 a year in tuition, fees, books and other education-related expenses.

They go on to explain that this will be a 3-5 year experimental study on the impact of education on recidivism rates. That is mostly due to the fact that in 1994 Congress prohibited state and federal prisoners from getting access to Pell grants, but the Dept. of Education has the authority to temporarily waive rules in order to study their effectiveness.

I'd suggest that there's not much doubt about what the results will be.

A 2013 study by the Rand Corp. found that inmates who participated in education programs, including college courses, had significantly lower odds of returning to prison than inmates who didn’t.

It is encouraging to watch as, one by one, the reactionary policies of the war on drugs and the 90's era "tough on crime" craze are challenged and revoked.

Read More: http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2015/07/obama-administration-works-on-both.html

Yeah yeah, it is said he has done NOTHING for Af Am and PoC. Lol~

Go Obama go. He is on fire!

Congress is AWOL and Obama is burning down the house! Fire up the thrusters, full speed ahead, Mr President. Make it so. You are going to be blowing everyone's socks off in the next 18 months.

Lame Duck? In your dreams.

I love my President.

[bettyellen]

1. It blows my mind the crap I hear that Obama or Hillary have done nothing for

POC, women, voting rights etc. it's one thing to dislike their policies- it's another to hatefully spew lies. Seeing too much of the latter here and unfortunately in the real world too.
Thanks Sheshe!

[sheshe2]

2. Hey bettyellen. My pleasure!

Thanks for your response. At least some of us know the truth.

[bettyellen]

3. I have a very well educated friend- who actually repeated the "Hillary is afraid of black men in

Hoodies" crap and then said later she had never done anything for POC or for voters rights.
I told him he was coming off as mighty ignorant. And that if he actually wanted to get voters for Bernie he should knock off the bullshit.
I think crap like that completely alienates people from getting involved at all.

[sheshe2]

7. Sorry about your friend, that is just plain sad.

My family was full on Obama in both elections. My nephew voted for him from his hospital bed in 2012. Trust me, he was not in good shape at the time, yet his wife got him an absentee ballot and he voted.

This election, I am sure we will be a tad split in the primaries. Bottom line, we will all be voting on the Democratic ticket.

[bettyellen]

13. His wife berated him for repeating RW bullshit....

But the sad part was, he found himself wanting to believe ridiculous things. I told him he sounded like an ignorant tea-bagger and it was damaging his credibility.

[ismnotwasm]

5. No shit

If I wanted to listen to Fox News I'd listen to Fox News. It's disgusting listening to the same crap from people calling themselves "progressives".

[Thinkingabout]

4. These stories are not even smears, they are plain lies. I can accept the truth but these outright

lies needs to stop. Repeating the same lies over and over after there is evidence proving otherwise then it becomes over the top.

[George II]

6. I hope we're all around when the historians declare him the most influential and....

....effective president in history.

Imagine what he could have accomplished if he didn't have a Congress thwarting him at every turn for the last six years of his Presidency?

[sheshe2]

8. I have doubts I will be around...

Yet I know in my heart that..

when the historians declare him the most influential and effective president in history.

...he will be.

Thank you George.

[marmar]

9. I've got lots of issues with things the administration has done, but plaudits on this.......

...... the quiet, steady reforms to the criminal justice system are among the most important and most significant. And there's plenty of damage to be undone from the Reagan, Bush I and II, and, sadly, Clinton years.

[sheshe2]

10. Thank you for ..

Acknowledging that, marmar, sadly so few do. This is huge and the majority of DU does not give a shit.

To be clear, Clinton one is no Clinton two.

[Politicub]

11. To paraphrase Vice President Biden...

this is a big f'ing deal!

[sheshe2]

12. It is indeed a BFD!

Thank you Politicub!