The President: Hello, everybody.
Today, there are some 2.2
million people behind bars
in America.
Millions more are on
parole or probation.
All told, we spend 80
billion taxpayer dollars
each year to keep
people locked up.
Many are serving
unnecessarily long sentences
for non-violent crimes.
Almost 60 percent have
mental health problems.
Almost 70 percent were
regular drug users.
And as a whole, our
prison population is
disproportionately
black and Latino.
Now, plenty of people
should be behind bars.
But the reason we have so
many more people in prison
than any other developed
country is not because we
have more criminals.
It's because we have
criminal justice policies,
including unfair
sentencing laws,
that need to be reformed.
We know that simply locking
people up
doesn't make communities safer.
It doesn't deal with the
conditions that lead people
to criminal activity
in the first place,
or to return to
prison later.
After all, there's evidence
that a 10 percent increase
in the high school
graduation rate leads to a
nearly 10 percent
decrease in arrest rates.
A ten percent wage increase
for men without a college
degree lowers crime by
as much as 20 percent.
And a growing body of
research suggests that the
longer people stay in jail,
the more likely they are to
commit another crime
once they get out.
Here's why this matters.
Every year,
more than
600,000 people are
released from prison.
We need to ensure that they
are prepared to reenter
society and become
productive,
contributing members
of their families and
communities - and
maybe even role models.
That's why we've been
working to make our criminal
justice system smarter,
fairer, less expensive,
and more effective.
This week, the Department of
Justice will highlight how
strong reentry programs can
make communities safer.
My Administration will
announce new actions that
will build on the progress
we've already made.
We'll release more details
about how we are taking
steps to ensure that
applicants with a criminal
history have a fair shot to
compete for a federal job.
We're issuing a new report
that details the economic
costs of our high
rates of incarceration.
And we're calling on
businesses to commit to
hiring returning citizens
who have earned a second chance.
These are just a few of
the steps we're taking.
But there's much more to do.
Disrupting the pipeline
from underfunded schools to
overcrowded jails.
Addressing the disparities
in the application of
criminal justice, from
arrest rates to sentencing
to incarceration.
Investing in
alternatives to prison,
like drug courts and
mental health treatment.
Helping those who have
served their time get the
support they need to become
productive members of society.
Good people from both sides
of the aisle and across all
sectors are coming
together on this issue.
From businesses that are
changing their hiring
practices, to law
enforcement that's improving
community policing,
we're seeing change.
Now we need a Congress
that's willing to send a
bipartisan criminal justice
reform bill to my desk.
This isn't just about what
makes economic
and practical sense.
It's about making sure that
we live up to our ideals
as a nation.
Thanks, and have
a great weekend.
