{news} Media Spotlight on Criminal Justice Reform

[Clifford Thornton]

      <http://webb.senate.gov/>

      Jim Webb's Website<http://webb.senate.gov/> | Constituent Services<http://webb.senate.gov/services/> | Newsroom<http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/> | Photos<http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/photo_gallery.cfm> | Contact<http://webb.senate.gov/contact/> | Subscribe<mailto:listserv at democratic-message-center.senate.gov?subject=Newsletter%20Signup&body=SUBSCRIBE%20WEBB-NEWSLETTER%20Anonymous> | Unsubscribe<mailto:listserv at democratic-message-center.senate.gov?subject=Newsletter%20Signup&body=SIGNOFF%20WEBB-NEWSLETTER>
     


      Dear Friend,

      As you may know, I am committed to initiating a serious dialogue and raising public awareness about the U.S. criminal justice system and incarceration policies. Over the past two years, I have held a number of Senate hearings, hosted a symposium of experts at George Mason University and delivered the keynote address for a Brookings Institute panel at the National Press Club on this pressing issue. 

      This year I plan to introduce legislation to launch a comprehensive review of our criminal justice system. It is imperative that a national commission take an overarching look at where the system is broken and how we fix it. To start, focus must be placed on locking up the most dangerous people instead of diverting time and money to incarcerate the wrong people. This means making sharp distinctions between offenders of violent crimes and those incarcerated for non-violent crimes, drug abuse and mental illness. 

      This challenge of criminal justice reform demands dedicated attention and viable solutions. 

      More and more Americans are expressing concern over our criminal justice system and I wanted to inform you of the following recent media attention on this important issue. For more resources on my work to study and reform the U.S. criminal justice system, please go to: http://webb.senate.gov/email/incarceration.html<http://webb.senate.gov/email/incarceration.html> For more resources on my work to study and reform the U.S. criminal justice system, please go to: http://webb.senate.gov/email/incarceration.html<http://webb.senate.gov/email/incarceration.html> 

      Thank you for your interest,
      Jim Webb



      RECENT MEDIA COVERAGE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM

      Sen. Webb's Call for Prison Reform
      The New York Times Editorial
      January 1, 2008 

      This country puts too many people behind bars for too long. Most elected officials, afraid of being tarred as soft on crime, ignore these problems. Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat of Virginia, is now courageously stepping into the void, calling for a national commission to re-assess criminal justice policy. Other members of Congress should show the same courage and rally to the cause. To read the entire article, please click here »<http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/record_article.cfm?id=306245&&> 

      Webb Sets His Sights On Prison Reform
      By: Sandhya Somashekhar, Washington Post
      December 29, 2008 

      Somewhere along the meandering career path that led James Webb to the U.S. Senate, he found himself in the frigid interior of a Japanese prison. A journalist at the time, he was working on an article about Ed Arnett, an American who had spent two years in Fuchu Prison for possession of marijuana. In a January 1984 Parade magazine piece, Webb described the harsh conditions imposed on Arnett, who had frostbite and sometimes labored in solitary confinement making paper bags. To read the entire article, please click here »<http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/record_article.cfm?id=306230&&> 

      James Webb Shows Leadership Regarding Prison Reform
      By: John Aloysius Farrell
      Thomas Jefferson Street blog, U.S. News & World Report
      January 02, 2009 

      Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia has never been afraid to march to the beat of his own drum. The decorated Vietnam War veteran who served as Secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan, then got elected to the Senate as a Democrat in 2006, has his own views on things, and his own way of stating them. To read the entire article, please click here »<http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/record_article.cfm?id=306325&&> 

      Time to Rethink Goals of Prison
      The Virginian Pilot Editorial
      January 5, 2009 

      In prosperous times, state and federal lawmakers wanting to polish their get-tough-on-crime image pass bills putting more people in prison and keeping them longer for offenses such as drunken driving, drug possession and dog fighting. When the economy tanks, those mandatory sentencing laws stay in place, and budget cuts instead dig into drug treatment and job-training programs. To read the entire article, please click here »<http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/record_article.cfm?id=306324&&> 

      The Criminal Justice System Needs Help
      Sen. Jim Webb demonstrates political courage in his push to reform a system that 'tough-on-crime' politicians have made expensive and ineffective.
      Roanoke Times Editorial
      January 5, 2009 

      Sen. Jim Webb is not a typical politician, and he wants to bring an atypical approach to criminal justice reform in America. The typical political fashion of treating crime and punishment has created an America that imprisons a larger percentage of its population than any other nation. It has created a justice system that is erratic, arbitrary and, well, unjust. Webb plans to introduce legislation in the spring that would create a national panel to recommend ways to overhaul the criminal justice system. To read the entire article, please click here »<http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/record_article.cfm?id=306323&&> 

      Alternative to Jail for Addicts Gains New Supporter
      Peter Dujardin, The Daily Press
      December 28, 2008 

      Drug courts have a prominent supporter on Capitol Hill. U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., voiced strong support for drug courts in a speech to a Washington think tank this month. He said he's "very impressed with what I've seen" regarding the carrot-and-stick approach to keeping nonviolent drug offenders out of prison. To read the entire article, please click here »<http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/record_article.cfm?id=306231&&> 

      Senator Elevates Debate on Failed Drug, Prison Policies
      Roger Chesley, The Virginian-Pilot
      October 18, 2008 

      Jim Webb has far-reaching ideas about reforming the country's harsh drug laws, reducing the swollen prison population and spending more to rehabilitate substance abusers who truly want help. But Virginia's junior senator faces a challenge: How many federal lawmakers will join a quest that could amount to political suicide? To read the entire article, please click here »<http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/record_article.cfm?id=304721&&> 

      Voice for Broken Prisons
      Virginia senator points to statistics in saying reforms are long overdue
      Las Vegas Sun Editorial
      January 3, 2009 

      Sen. Jim Webb is a decorated Marine and former Navy secretary under President Ronald Reagan. He will need the kind of determination and mental toughness stressed in the military to shepherd through Congress a bill addressing his long-standing passion--prison reform. Even officials in his own state of Virginia say he is in for a tough fight on the issue of prisons, which most politicians use to stress their law-and-order, tough-on-crime credentials, as in "lock 'em up and throw away the key." To read the entire article, please click here »<http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/record_article.cfm?id=306322&&> 



      Please feel free to forward this page<mailto:?subject=Webb's%20Washington%20Week&body=I%20thought%20you%20might%20enjoy%20Senator%20Jim%20Webb's%20latest%20Washington%20Week,%20and%20be%20sure%20to%20subscribe%20to%20receive%20your%20own.%0Ahttp://webb.senate.gov/email/incarceration2.html> to friends and family and invite them to do the same! 



      Jim Webb's Website<http://webb.senate.gov/> | Constituent Services<http://webb.senate.gov/services/> | Newsroom<http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/> | Photos<http://webb.senate.gov/newsroom/photo_gallery.cfm> | Contact<http://webb.senate.gov/contact/> | Subscribe<mailto:listserv at democratic-message-center.senate.gov?subject=Newsletter%20Signup&body=SUBSCRIBE%20WEBB-NEWSLETTER%20Anonymous> | Unsubscribe<mailto:listserv at democratic-message-center.senate.gov?subject=Newsletter%20Signup&body=SIGNOFF%20WEBB-NEWSLETTER>
     




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