Hillary Clinton Just Took a Stand for Black Lives

Hillary Clinton Just Took a Stand for Black Lives

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, on Wednesday dove into the debate over Freddie Gray, the young black man whose death has triggered days of protests in Baltimore. In her speech at Columbia University, Clinton outlined a broader vision of criminal justice reform.

“What we have seen in Baltimore should indeed—and I think does—tear at our souls,” Clinton said. Her speech strove to put Gray’s death in police custody in the broader context of poverty in Baltimore. Clinton reminded the audience that one out of every three young black men in the city is unable to find work. She noted that while just six miles separate Baltimore’s Roland Park and Hollins Market neighborhoods, a 20-year difference in life expectancy also divides the two. Gray’s death is part of “patterns [that] have become unmistakable,” Clinton said as she mentioned the names of other black men killed by police across the country: Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice. “We have to come to terms with some hard truths about race and justice in America,” she told the audience to a round of applause.

Gray’s death is the latest flash point in America’s persistent and painful debate about how law enforcement interacts with the country’s poorest citizens and particularly its black citizens. Last December, President Obama created a task force on criminal justice as part of his administration’s response to the deaths of black males at the hands of police in Ferguson, Missouri; New York; and Cleveland, Ohio. His vision for reform, announced in March, had implications for law enforcement, including deeper engagement with communities, increased data collection, and the use of independent investigations and prosecutors following fatal police interactions with citizens.

In Wednesday’s speech, Clinton used the crisis in Baltimore to illustrate her plans for broader criminal justice reform. She praised the president’s task force and called for body cameras in every police department across the country to “protect good people on both sides of the lens.” Clinton said America must also rethink its approach to punishing offenders convicted of minor offenses such as drug possession, and embrace alternatives such as drug courts. She expressed concern that prisons and jails have become de facto mental health institutions.

Criminal justice reform appears to be rising to the top of several potential candidates’ talking points. A book released Tuesday by the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan think tank, offers a series of essays on the proposed reform strategies of Sens. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Clinton, and others. Candidates generally express concern that many of the criminal justice policies developed in the 1980s and '90s effectively solidified America’s place as the world’s leading incarcerator.

“Those who are instigating violence in Baltimore are disrespecting Freddie Gray’s family,” Clinton said. “The violence has to stop. But more broadly, let’s remember that everyone in the community benefits when there is respect for the law and when everyone in the community is respected by the law.”

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Original article from TakePart