The President:
Hi, everybody.
Today, there are 2.2 million
people behind bars in
America and millions more
on parole or probation.
Every year, we spend $80
billion in taxpayer dollars
to keep people incarcerated.
Many are non-violent
offenders serving
unnecessarily
long sentences.
I believe we can disrupt the
pipeline from underfunded
schools to
overcrowded jails.
I believe we can address
the disparities in the
application of
criminal justice,
from arrest rates to
sentencing to incarceration.
And I believe we can help
those who have served their
time and earned a second
chance get the support they
need to become productive
members of society.
That's why over the
course of this year,
I've been talking to folks
around the country about
reforming our criminal
justice system to make it
smarter, fairer,
and more effective.
In February, I sat down in
the Oval Office with police
officers from
around the country.
In the spring, I met with
police officers and young
people in Camden,
New Jersey,
where they're using
community policing and data
to drive down crime.
Over the summer, I visited
a prison in Oklahoma to talk
with inmates and
corrections officers about
rehabilitating prisoners,
and preventing more people
from ending up there
in the first place.
Two weeks ago, I visited
West Virginia to meet with
families battling
prescription drug and heroin
abuse, as well as people who
are working on new solutions
for treatment and
rehabilitation.
Last week, I traveled to
Chicago to thank police
chiefs from across the
country for all that their
officers do to
protect Americans,
to make sure they get
the resources to get the job
done, and to call for
common sense gun safety
reforms that would
make officers and their
communities safer.
We know that having
millions of people in the
criminal justice system,
without any ability to find
a job after release,
is unsustainable.
It's bad for communities and
it's bad for our economy.
So on Monday, I'll
travel to Newark, New Jersey
to highlight
efforts to help Americans
who've paid their debt to
society reintegrate back
into their communities.
Everyone has a role to play,
from businesses that are
hiring ex-offenders to
philanthropies that are
supporting education
and training programs.
And I'll keep working with
people in both parties to
get criminal justice
reform bills to my desk,
including a bipartisan bill
that would reduce mandatory
minimums for non-violent
drug offenders and reward
prisoners with shorter
sentences if they complete
programs that make them less
likely to commit
a repeat offense.
There's a reason that good
people across the country
are coming together to
reform
our criminal justice system.
Because it's not
about politics.
It's about whether we as
a nation live up to our
founding ideal of liberty
and justice for all.
And working together, we
can make sure that we do.
Thanks, everybody.
Have a great weekend.
And have a safe and
Happy Halloween.
