When the President of the United States actually shows he gives a damn and makes historic moves, you can’t help but feel a sense of hope. Well that’s what President Barack Obama is doing after becoming the first sitting president to visit a federal prison in the pursuit of prison reform. Get the deets on his notable visit inside….
As the end of his presidency nears, President Barack Obama is clearly focused on leaving behind a legacy he can be proud of.
On Thursday, POTUS made history books as the first sitting president to visit a federal prison on his quest for criminal justice reform. Our Commander-in-Chief jetted to the Federal Correctional Institution El Reno in Oklahoma to visit a few inmates who are currently behind bars at the medium-security prison for drug offenses.
President Obama sat down with 6 prison inmates to get insight on what led to their current situation: life behind bars. And he found that the young men he spoke to were much like him when he was an adolescent. As you may recall, our President was a marijuana smoker during his teenage years, so he reportedly said he saw a lot of himself in the young men.
After his sitdown with the inmates, President Obama shared with reporters,
"When they describe their youth and their childhood, these are young people who made mistakes that aren't that different from the mistakes I made and the mistakes that a lot of you guys made.”
While he saw much of himself in them after they shared their stories, he realized these men didn’t have the resources nor were they given a “second chance” to try and get their lives on track like he did. He added,
"The difference is, they did not have the kind of support structures, the second chances, the resources that would allow them to survive those mistakes."
"It's not normal. It's not what happens in other countries. What is normal is teenagers doing stupid things. What is normal is young people making mistakes."
Later, POTUS was given a tour of the facility, where he was shown where the inmates spend much of their time…inside a cell. While viewing their sleeping quarters, he said,
"Three full-grown men in a 9-by-10 cell. Overcrowding like that is something that has to be addressed."
Earlier this week Obama was lobbying to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. On Monday, he reduced federal prison sentences for
46 nonviolent drug offenders, where 14 of those inmates are currently serving life terms. While his efforts are commendable, it’s going to take bipartisan support to push legislation through the government to help reduce unfair sentences given to those doing long prison sentences for nonviolent drug-related crimes.
As you know, black men make up a disprortionate percentage of the American jail population;
40% to be exact, which is three times their proportion in the nation’s population. And that’s a problem President Obama is working to fix.
This fall, we will get an inside look at President Obama's historic visit when it airs on a
"VICE" special on HBO.
