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Home Front: Politix

O'Bama Favors Changes in Drug Sentencing

2007-09-29

Democrat Barack Obama said Friday that as president he would relax drug sentencing laws and address vast racial inequities in the justice system as part of his crime policy.

The Illinois senator said he would review mandatory minimum drug sentencing and give first-time, nonviolent drug offenders a chance to serve their sentence in drug rehabilitation programs instead of prison. ``If you're convicted of a crime involving drugs, of course you should be punished,'' Obama said in a speech at Howard University's opening convocation. ``But let's not make the punishment for crack cocaine that much more severe than the punishment for powder cocaine when the real difference is where the people are using them or who is using them.'' The historically black college awarded Obama an honorary degree.

Posted by:Fred

#10 A lot of the people he's pandering to have lost their voting rights.

Posted by: Zenster 2007-09-29 15:47

#9 Good catch Sid,
Meth is the scourge of the rural midwest, and predominantly a white problem. I have a feeling that if he wins, there will be a total focus on 20% of the population and very little paid to the rest.

Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-09-29 11:54

#8 Pretty pathetic when a black presidential candidate has to pander to black college students this way -- does he think they're going to vote for Hillary? I detect the pungent scent of flop sweat on this loser.

Posted by: regular joe 2007-09-29 11:37

#7 He'd be better off favoring a change in black society to shame unwed mothers and the men who sire (NOT father) children then fail to become fathers. The illegitimacy rate is as high as 80% in some inner city black communities, and its highly correlated with incarceration rates (especially compared to rural blacks who marry at much higher rates). Young black men have been taught from the earliest age to not respect themselves or others and to abdicate responsibility - that's the example the "baby daddy" culture brings home early in life.

If Obama had any guts he'd take on the "establishment" blacks and hammer them on how they have promoted the abandonment of responsibility in the black community, abrogated fundamental personal accountability, and abetted the destruction of the societal core: the nuclear family.

Posted by: OldSpook 2007-09-29 09:53

#6 Didn't mention Meth did he? Must not be a problem...

Posted by: Sid 6.7 2007-09-29 09:27

#5 Like, we should all chill out, spark up a splib, party hearty, and not have to worry about THE MAN.
Peace out...and thanks for the degree.

Posted by: Sen. Barack Hussein Obama 2007-09-29 09:19

#4 the disparity in sentencing for crack vs powder was based on the widespread (and accurate) fear of the more highly addictive and destructive crack lifestyle, where someone would cut your throat for $10 to buy a rock. The fact that it hit the black community the hardest is undeniable, but there were crackheads of all colors

Posted by: Frank G 2007-09-29 08:49

#3 Hussein Obama's proposal is the worst of both worlds. Make them guilty of a victimless crime with a record for life, but don't punish them. A more respectable position would be to declare the War on Drugs a quagmire and to promise to withdraw all police from it in the first 30 days of his administration.

Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-09-29 08:29

#2 Well they've already made it easier to declare personal bankruptcy ....

Posted by: lotp 2007-09-29 08:18

#1 While you're at it Barack, how about relaxing the penalties on bank and security frauds. That seems to have a disproportionate number of another 'group' represented in its incarcerated numbers. /sarcasm off

Don't do the crime. Don't do the time.

Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-09-29 08:15

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