The President: Hello,
everybody!
(applause)
Hello, hello, hello.
Everybody, please
have a seat.
Have a seat.
Well, I just wanted to stop
by and just say thank you,
because we have in this
audience some people who are
doing outstanding work on
behalf of criminal justice
reform.
I want to thank Angie
for the introduction.
I want to recognize a couple
of members of Congress who
are here, who have been
great champions of this.
Congresswoman Frederica
Wilson from the great state
of Florida.
(applause)
And a great champion of
this issue, he is working
tirelessly in the Senate to
advance some important
legislation, Senator Cory
Booker of New Jersey.
(applause)
We also have former Attorney
General and buddy of mine,
Eric Holder.
(applause)
I know our current Attorney
General I think had to leave
a little bit earlier, but
obviously is deeply involved
in these efforts.
I want to thank Shane Smith
and everybody at VICE for
the great work and efforts
that they've made in the
production of what you're
going to be seeing here
today.
(applause)
And then there's a guy named
Al Sharpton over here.
(laughter)
What's up, Al?
(applause)
He's been working on these
issues for a while.
America spends $80 billion a
year keeping folks locked up.
We represent 5 percent of
the world's population, 25
percent of its inmates.
That's not an indicator that
we want to be the leader in.
Keep in mind that I'm the
father of two kids, and I
care about them being safe
and I am fiercely protective
of them.
And I think it is important
for all of us to recognize
that in too many communities
crime destroys lives and
hope and opportunity, and we
cannot diminish the impact
of crime.
And I think everybody here
recognizes that we have to
have a criminal justice
system that is effective and
that prosecutes individuals
in a fair way to ensure that
we as a society are able to
maintain peace and order and
security.
That's not something that
anybody here would argue
against.
But what we also know
is that for too many
individuals, particularly
nonviolent offenders caught
up in an environment in
which drugs are pervasive
and opportunity is lacking,
the punishment does not fit
the crime.
Too often, prosecutions,
arrests are not being
applied in a way that
reflects our belief in
equality under the law.
And the effects of this mass
incarceration ripple through
families and communities,
especially communities of
color in ways that are not
just a problem of the here
and now, but continue
across generations.
So as a society, we have to
acknowledge that there is
something wrong when we are
locking up this many folks
with this kind of frequency,
concentrated in a handful of
communities in cities and
towns and counties across
this country.
And that's why, in July, I
visited the El Reno federal
penitentiary in Oklahoma --
the first President,
apparently, to have ever
visited a prison -- because
the people in these prisons
are deserving of our
attention.
They're human beings with
hopes and dreams, who in
many cases have made
profound mistakes but are
American citizens
nonetheless.
(applause)
It was interesting during
that visit, we had a chance
to meet with corrections
officers and wardens and
those who manage the system.
They have an extremely
difficult and often
dangerous job.
And we expressed our
appreciation for what they
do.
But they also recognized
that we could be doing
better in how we
administer justice.
And I met with a group of
prisoners, and what was
striking was the degree to
which so many of these young
people -- and many of them
were young; there were some
older ones who were there,
often because they had been
serving time for mistakes
they had made during their
youth.
And I said at the time -- I
think you may hear me say it
in this program -- that
they weren't so
different from me.
I made mistakes
when I was young.
I didn't always follow
a straight path.
The primary difference
between me and them was
I had more of a cushion.
I had second chances.
In some cases, I had
resources or I was in an
environment in which when I
made a mistake as a teen,
that I could
recover from it.
And these young people
didn't have any margin
for error.
And that notion that as a
consequence of youthful
mistakes they could end up
in a lifelong cycle of
crime, where the prospect of
them being able to recover
and reenter society with
gainful employment and the
ability to be part of their
children's lives and to be
citizens appear remote --
the notion that that's how
we think our criminal
justice system should work,
that that should be the end
result, there's something
un-American about that.
This is a country that
believes in second chances.
And right now we've got
millions of people who
aren't getting it.
So we've got to make sure
that our criminal justice
system works.
We've got to make sure that
our criminal justice system
keeps people safe.
We have to respect the
incredibly difficult job
that police officers have,
and remind ourselves that
they are protecting and
serving us, and they have a
right to go home too.
We have to recognize that
there are prosecutors and
judges throughout the system
who want to do the right
thing and feel compassion,
and understand the human
stories that are involved in
this thing, but are bound by
laws that all too often have
been created because of
politics or misguided
theories as opposed to being
based on the evidence and
what's required to keep
people safe.
The bottom line is we've
got to make sure that our
criminal justice system does
not perpetuate a cycle of
hopelessness, but
rather lifts people up.
And there's no contradiction
between us being concerned
and vigilant when it comes
to keeping our streets safe
and our children safe, and
also making sure that our
system is fair and just and
does not consign an entire
class of people to a
life on the margins.
And that means that we've
got to support sentencing
reform efforts, like the
one that these members of
Congress are supporting, so
that we can more effectively
use our resources to
protect the public.
It means that we have to
stay focused on prevention
programs and alternatives
like drug courts that can
intercede with young people
before they're locked into a
path from which they
cannot recover.
It means that providing
education and job training
and focus inside of prisons
is not being soft on crime;
it is being smart about --
(applause)
-- what is needed in order
to make sure that people can
recover from their mistakes.
And the good news is that
people from federal, state
and local governments, from
law enforcement and the
judiciary, from business and
entertainment, and local
communities are finding
common ground on this issue.
What's encouraging is this
is one of the few areas
where we're seeing some
really important bipartisan
conversations taking place,
and members of the faith
community stepping up
alongside civil rights
advocates in really
significant and
meaningful ways.
And so I'm
encouraged by it.
You represent the
possibilities of shaping a
coalition that makes this
aspect of America more
consistent with our
ideals and our values.
And for your extraordinary
work, I want to thank you.
But recognize this is
going to be hard work.
It is not going
to be easy.
It is not going
to happen soon.
We are just going to have to
keep on pushing at the
federal level, but also at
the state and local levels.
We've got a great Attorney
General currently, and we
had a previous Attorney
General who cared deeply
about this.
But we need states attorneys
and local prosecutors, and
sheriffs, and departments
all across this country to
internalize these issues as
well, because the federal
system is just a very --
is a small portion of our
overall criminal
justice system.
And it's not something
that I can direct by
fiat to change.
This is something that's
going to have to be a
collaboration with
everybody.
So that's enough talking.
Thank you for the great
work you're doing.
And enjoy the show.
(applause)
