HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle

Don't Be Afraid of Those 6,000 Felons Just Released From Prison - FAMM's Kevin Ring

Views: 875
Only a few days ago, about 6,000 felons were released from federal prisons, their sentences shortened due a 2014 change made by the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC).

Immediately, the media was filled with stories featuring panicked headlines such as "Obama's Trick or Treat: 6,000 Convicts Go Free" and "Has Obama Set Loose a New Willie Horton?" (the latter is a reference to a violent criminal released under a program administered by 1988 Democratic presidential candidate and Massachusetts Gov. Mike Dukakis).

Such accounts have it all wrong, says Kevin Ring of Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), a nonprofit that has been fighting for sentencing reform since 1991. For starters, he notes that the Obama Justice Department fought the prisoner release and that the USSC is independent from the executive branch. As important, he stresses that the people being released are almost all low-level, non-violent drug offenders with no history of violence. There is broad, bipartisan support for sentencing reform, says Ring, and it includes not just liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans but major employers such as Walmart and Koch Industries.

When the Sentencing Commission voted in 2014 to reduce sentencing guidelines for future drug offenders, they also applied the changes retroactively to those already serving time. Over the next decade, that means about 46,000 federal prisoners will see their sentences shortened, with the average reduction amounting to just less than a year.

In a wide-ranging interview with Nick Gillespie, Ring explains why mandatory minimums, which grew in popularity as a response to increasing crime rates throughout the 1970s and '80s, have fallen out of favor even among tough-on-crime legislators; why bipartisan support for criminal justice reform will only continue to grow; and why some of the biggest changes are actually coming from private-sector actors who are moving to hire convicts and reintegrate them into the workforce. Politics matters, says Ring, but the larger culture is far more important in changing both crime and punishment.

Ring also talks about his own experiences in federal prison and what serving time taught the one-time Republican operative, former associate of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and editor of Antonin Scalia's jurisprudence.

"If conservatives looked at the Department of Justice like they looked at EPA or FDA," says Ring, "they'd see the same sorts of abuse, fraud, and overzealous abuse of power—and that's what they need to do."

About 11 minutes long.

Camera by Josh Swain and Austin Bragg.

Music: "Firefly” by Poddington Bear

Go to https://reason.com/reasontv/2015/11/06/families-against-mandatory-minimums-kevi for downloadable versions and subscribe to ReasonTV's YouTube Channel to receive notifications when new material goes live.
@ReasonVidsfollow
Thumbnail for The Environmental Case for School Choice5:27
The Environmental Case for School Choice
ReasonVids
960 views
Thumbnail for The Problem with E-Verify - The ACLU's Chris Calabrese on Immigration Reform7:25
The Problem with E-Verify - The ACLU's Chris Calabrese on Immigration Reform
ReasonVids
929 views
Thumbnail for The Prosecution of Julian Assange Is an Assault on the First Amendment14:06
The Prosecution of Julian Assange Is an Assault on the First Amendment
ReasonVids
995 views
Thumbnail for Stossel: China's Freedom-Crushing 'Social Credit Score'4:52
Stossel: China's Freedom-Crushing 'Social Credit Score'
ReasonVids
836 views
Thumbnail for Gay Activist Jimmy LaSalvia: "Why I Left the GOP (And You Should Too)"8:35
Gay Activist Jimmy LaSalvia: "Why I Left the GOP (And You Should Too)"
ReasonVids
849 views
Thumbnail for When I say good morning but I remember I'm around my people. 0:11
When I say good morning but I remember I'm around my people.
bestofupgoat
176 views
Thumbnail for The Coddling of the American Mind: How Overprotective Parenting Led to Fragility on Campus54:16
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Overprotective Parenting Led to Fragility on Campus
ReasonVids
915 views
Thumbnail for How COVID-19 Supercharged School Choice: Corey DeAngelis54:44
How COVID-19 Supercharged School Choice: Corey DeAngelis
ReasonVids
890 views
Thumbnail for No way, San Jose3:03
No way, San Jose
murdochmurdoch
1487 views
Thumbnail for Rich Disabled Kids Get the City to Send Them to Private School. Poor Disabled Kids Get Screwed.10:38
Rich Disabled Kids Get the City to Send Them to Private School. Poor Disabled Kids Get Screwed.
ReasonVids
919 views
Thumbnail for The NSA Wouldn't Let Us in This Building (But We Found Out What's Inside)5:05
The NSA Wouldn't Let Us in This Building (But We Found Out What's Inside)
ReasonVids
868 views
Thumbnail for Comedy, Outrage, and College: What We Saw at the "Can We Take a Joke?" Premiere3:20
Comedy, Outrage, and College: What We Saw at the "Can We Take a Joke?" Premiere
ReasonVids
877 views
Thumbnail for Oy vey the cats are antisemitic too!0:21
Oy vey the cats are antisemitic too!
AOUisgay
480 views
Thumbnail for Uber Driver Sprayed and Stabbed0:33
Uber Driver Sprayed and Stabbed
bestofvoatxyz
779 views
Thumbnail for DSP Tries It - SEATTLE: BECOME PIGROACH10:08
DSP Tries It - SEATTLE: BECOME PIGROACH
memology101
1269 views
Thumbnail for Leave the Strand Alone! Iconic Bookstore Owner Pleads With NYC: Don't Landmark My Property6:51
Leave the Strand Alone! Iconic Bookstore Owner Pleads With NYC: Don't Landmark My Property
ReasonVids
939 views
Thumbnail for Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales Already Solved the Internet's Problems30:49
Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales Already Solved the Internet's Problems
ReasonVids
921 views
Thumbnail for G7 leaders pledge $600 billion for developing countries amid Ukraine war1:00
G7 leaders pledge $600 billion for developing countries amid Ukraine war
phditto
1005 views
Thumbnail for This Northern Lights Storm Is Pretty CoolNaN:NaN
This Northern Lights Storm Is Pretty Cool
classic_voat_rumble_links
896 views
Thumbnail for Nurse Practitioners Can Make Health Care Cheaper (and Doctors Want to Stop Them)5:09
Nurse Practitioners Can Make Health Care Cheaper (and Doctors Want to Stop Them)
ReasonVids
944 views
Thumbnail for Constantine 2 (2024) | FIRST TRAILER | Warner Bros. & Keanu Reeves (4K) | constantine 2 trailer1:06
Constantine 2 (2024) | FIRST TRAILER | Warner Bros. & Keanu Reeves (4K) | constantine 2 trailer
invidious
351 views
Thumbnail for The Ethical Argument for Free Trade - Daniel Hannan on Brexit21:40
The Ethical Argument for Free Trade - Daniel Hannan on Brexit
ReasonVids
891 views
Thumbnail for Ask a Libertarian Lightning Round 2!: Joseph Schumpeter, Eminent Domain, Students for Liberty?5:30
Ask a Libertarian Lightning Round 2!: Joseph Schumpeter, Eminent Domain, Students for Liberty?
ReasonVids
891 views
Thumbnail for NYPD to Innocent Business Owners: Give Up Your Rights or Get Shut Down2:45
NYPD to Innocent Business Owners: Give Up Your Rights or Get Shut Down
IJvids
852 views

points

Permalink
Reply
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle