Live stream NOW: Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley & Ben Carson Talk Criminal Justice Reform

[pinebox]

Go watch it folks! http://www.bet.com/video/news/national/2015/livestream-criminal-justice-reform-ben-carson-bernie-sanders-martin-o-malley.html

[elleng]

1. Carson's on now, first.

[Duckhunter935]

2. Can't wait to see Hillary

[Dragonfli]

3. My understanding is that this discussion does not interest her /nt

[jeff47]

21. You're going to be waiting a long time, since she declined to attend. (nt)

[Luminous Animal]

4. Q and A now with Carson.

[think]

5. Moderator to Carson: "I appreciate your responses but you didn't say much about criminal justice"

[femmedem]

6. Wow. Carson saying he didn't get in trouble with police growing up

because his mother taught him to respect authority.

Says in Ferguson, they needed mutual respect: not only did the police need to respect the residents more, but the residents needed to respect the police more.

[sabrina 1]

26. Wait, didn't he say he was in trouble with the police for attacking his mother with a hammer

or something a few weeks ago? Among other things? I think this guy is just in this for entertainment. If you find someone this off the wall entertaining.

[femmedem]

7. Now Carson denying there is a regular pattern of police abusing authority

against the black community. Just a few bad apples.

On mass incarceration: is against mandatory minimum sentences for drug-related crimes. Citing stats on our large prison population. Why so many people addicted to drugs? "Not having a positive life." Says it has to do with not having strong families. But he does say that drug use should be treated as an illness rather than a crime, and that it doesn't make sense to put nonviolent offenders in jail with violent offenders, that this increases the chances that they will turn into violent offenders after they are released.

On felons having the right to vote: "If they are still American citizens (?????) they should have the right to vote."

Talking about Mexican border: no impediment, the fence wouldn't have stopped him, says there is a free flow of drugs across our border. (This was how he began answering a question on the criminalization of drugs.) THE IMMIGRANTS!!!!

[NorthCarolina]

8. Holy crap...that was an awesome video and intro for Bernie. eom

[femmedem]

9. Bernie's doing great so far! n/t

[femmedem]

10. Paraphrasing what Bernie's saying:

Last edited Sat Nov 21, 2015, 04:47 PM - Edit history (1)

We must do more than repeat the words Black Lives Matter. We need to put actions behind those words...top civil rights issue of 21st century

1. Federal level police officer training program with input from broad segment of community; reinvent how we police America.
2. New rules on allowable use of force; lethal force must be last resort, not first resort. Need to train officers to deescalate confrontations and humanely interact with people with mental illness.
3. Need police forces, including leadership, that reflects diversity of communities.
4. federally fund and require police body cameras. standards to protect citizen's privacy.
5. Hold police officers accountable.
6. Require states to require public reports on all police deaths within police custody.
7. Federal justice funding should be withheld from state and local governments that don't meet standards.
8. Must demilitarize police departments.
9. Must crack down on communities that receive inordinate amount of funding from fines and citations.
10. Must deal with level of policing in African American communities. Overpolicing in some AA communities. Too simplistic to say the police are there because that's where the crime is. "Poor people in urban areas have rates of violence similar to poor rural areas. Poor urban blacks have the same level of violence as urban whites."
11. Vast majority of police officers are honest, working hard and doing a good job under very difficult circumstances. But Mothers should not be afraid of their children being targeted because of the color of their skin, or that a routine interaction with police should result in death.
12. Have to rethink our entire approach. Cannot jail our way out of health problems like drug addiction or socio-economic problems like poverty.

[Menshunables]

29. That is a very impressive list - thank you for summarizing.

[femmedem]

30. Thank you and welcome to DU!

Pleasure to meet you.

[valerief]

11. I hope this forum helps to expose Bernie to black voters. nt

[Bread and Circus]

25. Me too but I think he would have a LOT MORE work to do than this.

[valerief]

36. Yes, and he even said he did, but this can help. nt

[femmedem]

12. More from Bernie:

1. Unacceptable that we stigmatize so many young Americans for possessing marijuana, but at the same time not one CEO of Wall street bank whose illegal activities helped destroy the economy of U.S. has a police record.
2. Not only is a bank too big to fail, but bankers are too big to jail.
3. Absurd that marijuana is classified same as heroin. Introduced legislation to end it.
4. Need to end prisons for profit. Introduced legislation to do that.
5. People with substance abuse problems should be treated as people with illness, not criminals.
6. End minimum sentencing.
7. Earn way to shorter sentences.
8. Needs to be a way back from prison including full restoration of voting rights.
9. Disparity of education in poor communities and poor communities of color: black children who make up 18% of pre-schoolers account for 48% of suspensions before kindergarten.


Just lost feed.

[femmedem]

13. More Bernie but I lost the stream for a while, so there's a gap.

1. why free college tuition is important: if you do well in school, you will be able to go to college regardless of your family's income.
Provides hope.
2. Have to stop criminalization of classroom misbehavior. Pipeline from school to jail that we have to turn into a pipeline from school to a promising future.
3. Poverty: these issues are related, need to be seen holistically. Living in the wealthiest country in the world, but most people don't see it. Highest rate of childhood of almost any major country on earth; 20% of our kids, almost 40% of African American kids in poverty. A disgrace.
4. Majority of people do not have $10,000 saved. What happens if you need a new car, get a divorce. Most black and latino families have less than $350 savings. (I think I heard that correctly.)
5. Makes more sense to invest in education and jobs than in jails and incarceration.
6. Must create millions of jobs--could put 13 million back to work with rebuilding infrastructure.
7. Raise minimum wage to $15/hr over the next few years.
8. Make sure poor communities have access to credit on terms, not pay day lenders. Expensive to be poor.
9. Thanks organizers for hosting this discussion on such an important topic. We want to live in a nation where an African American doesn't have to worry about getting in their car and ending up dead in a jail three days later. Must work on this together, when we come together this is an issue that can be resolved.

[femmedem]

14. Q & A with Bernie:

Q. How does Sanders administration deal with this level of reform when so much control is in municipalities.
A: Do it with funding: reward them with a financial carrot. Offer training.

Q: Withhold $ for departments that don't meet standards.
A: Yes. Also every time someone is killed in police custody, should be federally investigated.

Q: Control stripped from municipalities that can't control excessive force?
A: Would be a last resort, mayors are democratically elected. Doesn't rule it out.

Q: Stop & Frisk: disparate effect on minority communities. What would you do?
A: Decisions made at local level. Police need to be seen as part of community, not alien force.

Q: You are known for your objection to private prisons. But if private prisons are more cost effective, how do you justify replacing them with public prisons?
A: Doesn't agree with premise. But cites judges sending kids to private prisons and getting a kickback. You can't incentivize locking people up. Incentives should be to get people out of jail, or to keep them out of jail in the first place.

Q: Lots of support for offering free college tuition. How do you pay for it?
A: When I talk about economic issues, I talk about the massive redistribution of wealth that has gone to the rich...trillions of dollars flowing from middle class to the top one tenth of one percent. Pay for tuition with tax on wall street speculation.

Q: How would Black Lives Matter under a Sanders administration?
A: Would be a major priority in my administration. Police reforms.

Q: Do you think there is going to be a turn in the polls in South Carolina? What do you want to say to the people of South Carolina?
A: I suspect that most people in South Carolina didn't know who I was when I announced my candidacy. I started polling at 3%, running against one of the best known people in the world. Not doing well here in South Carolina now, but I need to get my message out, get people out knocking on doors. Believes that the message in terms of criminal justice, economic issues, health care for all, addressing childhood poverty, believes the message will resonate.

[valerief]

15. Wow, you're doing a fabulous job here!

[Segami]

16. +!0000....Ditto!

[femmedem]

17. Thanks! I have to stop for a while so I won't get to cover O'Malley. n/t

[Bread and Circus]

24. Thank you for the hard work.

[sabrina 1]

27. Excellent, thank you for the transcription!

[HerbChestnut]

18. Bernie did great and the audience gave him a standing ovation at the end.

What more needs to be said? When he has a chance to get his message out, it resonates.

[Bread and Circus]

28. Standing ovation? Wow... I wished he had started earlier than may.

[Segami]

19. Bernie: "Its very expensive to be poor."

[femmedem]

31. I thought that was a great quote. n/t

[askew]

20. How long is this panel before O'Malley speaks because it isn't very interesting.

[HerbChestnut]

23. Apparently he had trouble getting to the forum?

I think they were just delaying until he arrived.

[askew]

32. That's weird because Sanders was at same event as O'Malley beforehand.

I defintely have seen O'Malley do a better job in his speeches than he did today. He seemed kind of scattered.

Wish O'Malley would have talked more about his criminal justice reform platform because his is the best of the two (since Hillary can't be assed to release one).

[elleng]

34. I think he was great, askew,

RELEVANT, and the crowd appreciated his highly relevant experience and policies!

[askew]

35. I think he seemed distracted during parts of the speech which is weird for him.

I also think he should have talked more about the reforms he put forth in his platform such as ending juvenile solitary confinement, etc.

He was very relevant and thought he clearly showed he understood the issue better than any other candidate.

[elleng]

33. Yes, and when he got there,

they were I think impressed with the relevance of his policies and experience.