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Where Gingrich and I Find Common Ground: Our Criminal Justice System Is Broken

Oregonians, at the request of conservative political leaders, have voted time and time again to build more prisons.  We have so many, in fact, that some sit empty.  This is the American criminal justice system today.  We have more people sitting in jails than just about any other nation on earth.  It makes no sense and it robs tax payers of resources that could be spent on bettering our schools, improving our roads, and providing quality health care for seniors.

That is why the NAACP has lanuched a new campaign to reform the criminal justice system in the United States.  That campaign has been endorsed by former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich.  Gingrich, who is also exploring a 2012 presidential campaign, writes:

Last year alone, we spent $68 billion on corrections in the United States - 300 percent more than 25 years ago. With this increased spending, one would hope that we would have seen successes in rehabilitation, recidivism rates, and stronger and safer communities. The results are mostly disappointing: half of this year’s released prisoners are expected to return to prison within three years. If our prison policies are failing half of the time, and we know that there are more humane alternatives – especially alternatives that do not involve spending billions more on more prisons —it is time to fundamentally rethink how we treat and rehabilitate our prisoners. 

The NAACP report that is being released today, “Misplaced Priorities: Over Incarcerate, Under Educate,” is a critical step in advancing our national dialogue on criminal justice reform. The report highlights the ways in which our budget priorities have been skewed in recent decades, but goes on to illuminate many of the promising practices that have allowed states to intelligently reduce their prison populations and use limited resources more humanely and effectively. 

The states have proven that there are innovative, data-driven approaches to reform, from community supervision programs, to more far-reaching treatment services, to more effective reentry programs. From the excellent reentry programs being developed in Michigan, to the Texas reforms that have prioritized treatment over prison time for drug offenders, the states are leading the way in building criminal justice institutions that serve our communities best. 

These issues transcend partisan lines and should be of concern to Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives alike. Conservatives, such as myself, should not consider criminal justice reform off-limits, and I am pleased that our movement has begun to tackle these issues head-on.

This should be an issue that transcends party lines and I commend Speaker Gingrich for speaking out on this critical topic.

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