Transcripts For CSPAN Virginia Governor Calls For Criminal Justice Revolution 20170828

The United States has one of the highest incarceration rate in the world. There are Racial Disparities in conviction and sentencing. We need to reform our criminal Justice System and develop alternatives to the existing policies. Talking about criminal Justice Reform and how to approach the issue. I am pleased to welcome Governor Terry mcauliffe to the brookings institute. Many of you know him as governor of the commonwealth of virginia. Jobs andrked to create build a 21st century economy. Tois also committed bettering the lives of ordinary people. After the tragic violence in inuts will, charlottesville, he spoke out forcefully about hatred and bigotry. He has been a trailblazer in restoring civil Voting Rights for those released from prison. During his time in office, he restored Voting Rights to thousands of extra lens in virginia. Thousands of exfelons in virginia. Please join me in welcoming governor mcauliffe. [applause] think you for joining me for joiningank you me today. It is great to be among so many people who share my passion for such an important issue in this country. It is waiting that we are gathering here today on the anniversary of the march on washington should i first want to recognize the four people who one been very influential this issue. These folks have really done a good job. Led the nation on many of these important issues. I do want to thank the team we have assembled. One month ago, i made a very different speech, but today i speak with you with a that, after resolve many of us saw what happened in the last few weeks, we found it deplorable, disgusting. We saw hatred, bigotry, and deeply rooted racism on display in charlottesville and around the nation. There was grief and shock over the death of Heather Heyer who was out exercising her constitutional right and killed by a terrorist driving a car. To the two state troopers in virginia that we lost, to individuals close to me personally. One of them had been part of my private detection unit, and the other had been a pilot for the helicopter i had flown on for about three and half years. It was heartbreaking to visit their families. To see their wives and their children, husband not coming home, father not coming home. Family who lost their daughter, our thoughts and condolences are with all of them should we saw the outpouring of support and solidarity from it as majority of our citizens. Lahore that we saw from the white supremacist and neonazis was so shocking to all of us. As i said, there was no place in virginia for them. I told them to get out. To get out of our beautiful state. That they are not wanted. Their hatred is not in virginia, and we do not want them in america. These people, as they paraded down our streets, pretended they were patriots. They are not patriots. They are cowards. Woman whore like a 16 would Prince Edward county in the 50s walked out with her class and said they would not come back until they have equal school facilities. Andiots are the young men women who wear the cloth of our country to protect those the sick freedoms and liberties those basic freedoms and liberties that we enjoy so much. Charlottesville was a reminder that although we have made significant progress, we still have a lot of work to do. It is also forcing those whose privilege has allowed them to remain silent to reconcile two different views of america. Let us be clear, this is not a debate about monuments. These folks were not just protesting in the name of preserving southern heritage. They want to maintain inequality in everything that they do from criminal justice, education, housing, and they want to elevate racism to the highest form. So far, the pendulum has swung in their direction. Africanamericans, particularly men, are incarcerated at an alarming rate that is disproportionate. AfricanAmerican Children are more likely to live and attend school in an area of concentrated poverty. At school, they are disproportionately disciplined and suspended. They have been the target of legislation around the country with policies intended to rob them of their most basic dignity and civic duty, the right to vote. It is knows it is no secret that virginia has adopted and perpetuated some of those same practices and policies. We know that our history is far from perfect in virginia. That is exactly why i believe virginia should serve as an example to other states looking to take on reform. When i first became governor, it was clear that one place that they needed attention and resources was in our juvenile Justice System. We were spending 40 of our funds on just 10 of the youth in our state correction system, and nearly 80 were rearrested within three years. To house just one juvenile, it 155,000 550 a year. That does not include the education services. 187,000. Tal of yet, 80 were rearrested within three years. I was proud to be the first Virginia Governor to ever visit one of our juvenile facilities, and now i have visited both. I had the opportunity to speak with a group of teenage boys at one of her genias one of virginias oversized, maximum security facilities. They asked me why the recidivism rate was so high. The more they were incarcerated, the more likely they were to reoffend. They knew the system was working against them instead of working for them. So, i decided to close down both of these outdated institutions and replace them with smaller, communitybased centers which focused on therapy, training, and education. Today, i am proud to say that our population of incarcerated thirdsas been cut by two , from nearly 600 to just over 200 today. Ive directed the savings to be reinvested to support the new centers, and to create an effective statewide system of evidencebased systems and supports aimed at preventing incarceration in the first place. Today, i am proud to say that we have not found any other state which has been able to replicate what we have done in virginia. I am proud that we have secured funding and now offer free travel to families to visit their children. With new options, 75 of our youth will now live within a 1 hour drive of the family should of their family. All of this will help a strike the right balance between savings, costeffectiveness. It will support our kids and give them a better shot at a better life when they leave. Visited arday, i juvenile direction center, one that i am closing, just outside of richmond for a family day festival. It was a day for them to celebrate with their families the progress and success have a coupleto give them of hours to just feel like a regular kid. I was amazed by their incredible talent. One group even performed a spot on rendition of songs from hamilton. We heard moving stories from. Ormer incarcerated youth i met a young man who had recently been released from the facility where he had spent the last five years of his life. Where some people might see a troubled youth, i saw someone asking for the respect and admiration of his peers and mentors. He is an avid reader and a poet. While incarcerated, he was a mentor in a Literature Program and served as the president of a student association. With 22 College Credit already under his belt, he walked out of the facility last month with a College Acceptance letter in his hands. That is exceptional. [applause] gov. Mcauliffe because when i became governor, there were no such programs for them to achieve their college credentials. Such the first time that robust educational offerings have been made. And greatto our Team Educators who work with this youth with these youth. While his story is inspiring, he is not alone. I believe all of these youth deserve the opportunity to succeed when they leave juvenile detention. That work starts from the moment they enter our care. For our educational department, the work starts even earlier. Far too many of our virginia students spend time outside the classroom as a result of disciplinary action. We have heard of stories of students being handcuffed and arrested. The data shows that africanAmerican Children and students with disabilities are disciplined at a much higher rate. According to the Virginia Department of education, africanamerican students make up 24 of the student population. Yet, they account for 53 of the school discipline. While recent data shows a decline in the number of suspensions and expulsions, these numbers are still far too high and continue to disproportionately affect certain students. That is totally unacceptable. There is no room in the commonwealth of virginia for excessive, discriminatory treatment of our students. Int is why i announced october of 2015 a new statewide initiative, classrooms not courtrooms. It has directed that the number of students experiencing an unnecessary number of expulsions and suspensions and suffering many disciplinary infractions. Our office has been hard at work at stopping these practices. All of our local partners had to sign, and we now have a rewritten Virginia School Law Enforcement partnership guide. There are very strict guidelines now about when someone candy disciplines. Someone canb be disciplined. These steps will contribute to a more healthy and productive environment for our children, and it will prevent our young people from entering the juvenile detention system in the first place. These Community Focused efforts are not only important for intervention and prevention, but they are critical to adults reentering society after going through a period of incarceration. Having a community is critical to making this transition is successful one. We all know that. Our adult reentry population needs the skills to be successful in todays economy. In virginia, we have taken steps now to offer College Credit course work in career and Technical Training at all of our the 70s. This prepares them for a smooth trend all of our facilities. This prepares them for a smooth transition. I am very proud, over the past three years, because of these efforts. Today, virginia can boast a lowest can boast the recidivism rate than any other state in america. We cannot stop there. Earlier, theto policies which hamper our citizens including the lifelong label as a criminal in the name of Public Safety and justice, the burden of that label can be life altering. To learn more about that firsthand, i invited for virginians to have dinner with me last week at the governors mansion. They came from every walk of life. Each had their own pathway to success. The one Common Thread among them was that they not be defined by a mistake they made so many years earlier. Each of these virginians had been convicted of a crime, and they had all received a pardon from me. While most have long since moved one of their mistakes, my guests had not even made a mistake in the first place. His name is robert paul davis. When he was 18 years old, he was wrongly convicted of a double murder after being forced to confess to a crime he did not commit. On the day i signed his pardon, i ordered his immediate relief leave from prison. I have pardoned many virginians who should not have been charged in the first place. In may of 2015, i granted in absolute pardon 258yearold Michael Mcallister absolute pardon to 58yearold Michael Mcallister who had been wrongly convicted of a kidnapping and rape of a young mother. After 28 years in prison, he was finally exonerated as a true criminal. Anerial rapist who bore resemblance to michael stepped forward. They have spent years in prison for crimes they did not commit after being called worst into falsely admitting guilt by the lead Norfolk Police detective on the case. Today, that Police Investigator is in prison for extortion and lying to the fbi about investigations. Crisisthis decades long process has even revocable he hasged the lives process completely changed the lives of these four men. Suchkes our duty to pardon an important one. Last week, i also met with a 64yearold reverend and army veteran who had been hurt in vietnam, severely. He became addicted to drugs. He came home, and at 23 years marijuananvicted of a possession. Convictionrold followed him until the day he received a pardon from me. It always prevented him from getting certain jobs. Through my pardon power, i made sure that he knew that the commonwealth of virginia would never again define these individuals as criminals. Executive clemency is an important power for any governor , but i have also taken it to the next step. I have taken executive action to ban criminal background checks on state job applicants, and i have worked to stop the ridiculous policy where we would strip your drivers license for those who could not pay their court fines and fees. Fees,ve court fines and so you take away their drivers license, so they cannot get to work, so they cannot make the money to pay off their fines and fees. Is that not ridiculous . [laughter] gov. Mcauliffe i found this baffling. Unities, the comm only way they can get to work is to drive. This year, after a long, concerted effort, i am proud to say that i have signed six bills which make it more difficult for our court to suspend drivers license and to give drivers more options together licenses back if they have been suspended due to an unpaid court fined. I have also thought to raise the minimum felony threshold level. I am embarrassed to say this, but today in virginia, if you are convicted of stealing anything worth 200 or more, you are now a felon in virginia for life. You, thatems low to is because it is. Ofginia now ranks 50th out jersey. S, tied with new i will e that there. Leave that there. [laughter] gov. Mcauliffe think about it, it means that a child who has just turned 18 years old who ir ofs steals a par iphone is now a felon for life. In 2016i called for raising the minimum felony threshold to 500. Unfortunately, that never made it out of the committee. I was not deterred, and we went back to this year and we went back this year in the legislative session to push for the race. Unfortunately, it was rejected again. Just yesterday, i signed a pardon for a 47 euros man named paul a 47yearold man named paul who stole cash more than 200 from the Cash Register at the Department Store where he worked. He had a new baby, a broken down car, and he had no money. Today, he owns a thriving plumbing business, but his felony conviction sometimes prevents them from doing work on any millinery on any military bases. Paul was wrong to steal that money of course, but it should not mean that a mistake he made nearly 25 years ago should follow him forever. In virginia, that felony conviction also permanently strips you of your civil and Voting Rights for life unless restored by a governor. Was theconian process basis for the most contentious battle i have had as governor. We have given these felons a meaningful opportunity to change their lives, and i set out to bring virginia in mind with the rest of the country. Just three months after i took office, we made some changes. We shortened the request form from 13 pages 21. We got rid of the waiting period, and we streamlined the process to make that everyone had the same eligibility requirements. Later, in december 2014, i announced that i have restored the Voting Rights of about 5000 virginians. That was more than any other Virginia Governor in a year. We ended the practice of withholding these rights simply because of Outstanding Court costs. Tojune of 2015, i was proud have restored more voting and civil rights than any other governor in the history of the commonwealth of virginia. To me, that was not enough. 2016, i stood on the steps of the Virginia State capital which was designed in 1785 by thomas jefferson, and i issued an executive order to restore the rights of all virginians who had served their time and completed any supervision. That day, over 2000 virginians earned back the right to vote. It was my proudest day as governor. We must ensure the rights of every citizen, including those among us who have made mistakes, served their time, and returned to their communities to make the most of their Second Chance. Unfortunately, when they do get out, their criminal record follows them as they look for which are basic necessities you need to help you have a Second Chance. In virginia, it is a mistake which stays with them even as they try to take part in democracy by voting. There is a reason why. Ago, a poll tax and literacy test were written into virginias constitution. It is ironic with our history that we would punish those who have made a bad decision for the rest of their lives. Where would we be in a country where would we be as a country if we were only judged by our mistakes . So severely our citizens who may have gotten lost along the way . I haveays said always said, show me someone who has never made a mistake, and i will show you a liar. [laughter] gov. Mcauliffe some of these virginians have never been able to vote in a single election. There was a reason why this happened. 115 years ago, a state senator put these into our constitution. Stoodod exactly where i when hundred 15 years ago, and to quote him precisely, we are doing this to eliminate the dark from being a Political Force in virginia. Think about that for a moment, folks. And so, i was proud to restore the rights of virginians. In addition to being a loving mother and grandmother, one of these virginians is now a respected Community Leader and a and formerddicts offenders. This mother and grandmother did not have the right to vote even though she had turned her life around and used her Second Chance to help others in need. Especially those facing addiction. Legacy for the commonwealth of virginia. This policy was among the many jim crow era voter intimidating tactics aimed at blocking people from voting ever again. As governor, i could not allow this great injustice. However, ours was not without obstacles. Virginias Republican Legislature sued me the day i took action, arguing that i did not have the authority to do a blanket restoration. On july 22, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled against us not based on constitutional grounds, but because they quote, no governor had ever done this before. I will be very frank with you, folks. School,o georgetown law and while i was there i ran three companies. I was not in the building much, but even with my limited legal knowledge, i knew i had the authority to do this. I think the statute of limitations has passed on how much time you are supposed to spend in law school. [laughter] gov. Mcauliffe so think about this, voter rights had been restored, but the Supreme Court ruled against but the Virginia Supreme Court ruled against us, and her rights were lost again. She was devastated. She could not talk. However, we were done fighting. On august 22, 2016, i stood before virginias historic civil rights monument, and i reinitiated the process of restoring rights. They told me i had to sign every single one individually, and i told them to line them up and sign every single one of them individually if that is what it takes. So, guess what happened . They did not like that. Once again, i was sued. This time, the General Assembly of republicans sued me for contempt of court. I now have the honor of being the first Virginia Governor sued for contempt of court. This time, the Virginia Supreme Court sided with my favor and said he is doing it right i and thatindividually, woman received her rights back that day. Year, sher of that walked into a voting booth to cast her ballot for the first time in her life. It shows us just how powerful a Second Chance can be. She fulfilled her hardfought civic duty with pride. Something that nearly millions of americans did not exercise last november. Earlier this year, i invited her to join me for my address to the state of assembly in the capital. My address to the General Assembly in the capital. I introduced her to the very same people who thought she was a secondclass citizen and sued me to keep it that way. Over the past years, i have met thomas people met countless people whose rights i have restored. Churches, they have families, and they pay our taxes, and now they once again have a say in how their run. Nities are so many more incarcerated million formerly incarcerated Americans Still cannot vote. Think about that. 6 million. These are americans who have served their time and deserve a Second Chance only to be shut out either community. When people return to their after being incarcerated, we want and need them to make the most of their Second Chance. I knew this would be the start of a hardfought battle, that it is clearly one worth fighting. As i look back on the past year and a half, i am proud of the remarkable compliments we have achieved, because we never gave up on that fight. We stood up to take action and become a hallmark of significance in the rights. Because of this work, today i am proud to say that we have restored the rights of more than 161,000 virginians who deserve a Second Chance. I now have the honor of restoring more rights than any other governor in the history of the United States of america. [applause] work mustiffe our continue until every person is in short the basic human and civil rights. No voter should ever be barred from the filling their civic duty. No person barred from fufilling their civic duty. No person should be rejected from their schools simply because of their familys economic status. Is aboutrsation today how we can live up to our own american ideals. Continue that conversation without acknowledging how we got here in the first place. So yes, let us tear down those monuments and put them in the museums and battlefields and cemeteries where they truly belong. Let us also tear down the insidious policies that keep inequality and racism alive in our institutions and attitudes. The greatest monuments that we can build to our nations core values are not made from stone. We must live the american legacy that we all seek to honor by ensuring that every single child in this country has an equal shot to succeed. The every man and woman who has made a mistake receives a Second Chance to make it right. That every american has a place to call home. That is what we work hard to do in virginia under my watch. The progress we have seen is just the start of a transformation which can take generations to be fully realized. That is why i hope the work continues in january under my successor, because this is not a democrat or republican idea. This is an issue which cuts across economic status, race, origin, age, and political party. Incarceration and disenfranchisement have torn apart far too many families for far too long. They have been used as legal the politicaless and economic rise of our africanamerican friends and neighbors. Fors, it is past time criminal Justice Reform. It is time for a criminal Justice Revolution. Thank you very much. [no audio] [applause] i want to thank the governor for his thoughtful presentation. He had to leave, because he is running to his next event, and so he is unable to stay longer. We do have a distinguished handle of experts to continue the conversation. The moderator for our event is a political activist and organizer for Campaign Zero which seeks to end police violence. Joining him on the panel is sean, an associate professor of law at georgetown law center. Myis the author of law man, story of robbing banks, winning Supreme Court cases, and finding redemption. As far as i know, hes the first date robert to ever speak at the brookings institution. Also on the panel is brittany, the Vice President for teach for america. Shes also a cofounder of Campaign Zero. Clint is a doctoral candidate at Harvard University and author of a book. He has given ted talks on the danger of silence and how to raise a black son in america. Thank you everybody for being here. I am excited to moderate this incredible panel. When i think about britney, she was deployed at the ferguson commission, and she was one of the original protesters out there. Is quite the incredible poet and academic researchers and studies civil rights. Scholar, or bank robber, t how youritten abou can change the system with everything from sentencing to speedy trial. The first question i pose is a reflection on the governors speech. We are coming off the heels of the incident in charlottesville. I would be interested to know especially as is, we talk about the climate of race and criminal Justice Reform. Think you so much for that gsestion and for brookin event. Ting this charlottesville is an important moment, but it is part of a long series of moments. What we saw was some of the most vile evidence of White Supremacy and racism and the indoctrination of hatred in this country, and yet we see that every single day in our criminal Justice System, in schools, on the streets, in ask a protest in acts of protest. So, i think it is very important that we frame this conversation appropriately. Once a proud as systemic and institutionalized, and it is woven into the very fabric of this country from releasing on down. The other thing i think is important to this conversation is about how much it is in schools. We often talk about the school to prison pipeline. That phrase has become rather wellknown. I do not think we talk about it enough though, because it is not just about how quickly you can enter the system as a child, but it is also the way you internalize the idea that regular, childhood behaviors are especially criminal if you have ground skin or are indigenous to this country. So, we see African American and native American Children far surpassing the children in juvenile detention. As the governor mentioned, black students being pushed into School Suspensions and other disciplinary measures are at an alarming rate. It is also important to recognize that the type of training that not only Police Officers but teachers and principals are receiving does not adequately cover enough of this stuff. You so much for having me. It is a pleasure to be here. Asthinking a lot about someone who reads is reads a lot about the political sciences, it is interesting to read about what is politically powerful and proven to be effective. One of the things that the governor mentioned that i do not want to slip under the radar is that they have improved on streamlining processes in which families of young people who are incarcerated can visit them. Because that is one of the most important things that can be done to reduce recidivism, making sure that those family ties are maintained, because once you lose a sense of the community that you have on the outside, you become a lot more disillusioned and it becomes a lot more difficult to reintegrate yourself into the community outside. With a lot of minute women serving life sentences, and that is what i work on with my dissertation a lot of men and women serving life sentences and that is who i work with on my dissertation. The governor talked about initiatives that the state was taking in regards to drivers license which systems operate. When you spend time in prison as anyone who has been incarcerated or work with those who are incarcerated, you know that prison implicitly or exquisitely, we often do not recognize which the arbitrary nature of circumstance inevitably takes the probe the trajectory that that person ends up on. Being outside of prison for me was a daily reminder about the arbitrary nature of the family i was born into in the schools i got to attend. It could have very easily been me on the other side of the bar. We have to recognize that most of us have been put in a position where trajectory of our invitingute starts more felons into its midst. The main reason is that we are not all that different from you. I was encouraged by a few things that the governor said. One common criminal Justice Reform is vital. Mess. Stem is an absolute you cannot believe that america is the land of the free on one hand and at the same time know that we incarcerate more of our citizens than any other country on the planet. It is a system where the longer we send people to prison, the less likely they are to get out doesommit new crimes, it not really benefit anyone including taxpayers and crime victims. That is the big irony. Our prisons are so awful that people have a hard time recovering from prison. Everyone makes change. I was 21 years old when i committed my crimes, and ive made some pretty profound changes now at the age of 42. So if we believe people can change, why cant prisoners . The answer is because they are serving time in prison, then that says more about the system than the person. Fors not really easy prisoners to be incarcerated for a decade and then released with very little job training. It is like we expect a miracle to happen. 2008i got out of prison in , 2009, i had never been on the internet, never seen an ipad or iphone. To,of the places i applied a problem i had with them was a reference letter from one of the best attorneys in the United States, and i thought it could help me get a job. Aey asked me to send them pdf. Thwas in what halfwayt was in the house. It is such a simple thing, but it can really conversation about some things we do not typically talk about on a criminal justiceb base. What it means to be a felon, the bar is pretty low in chicago or virginia. Angola is the largest landmass prison in the country. It used to be for plantations put together which is wild. A prisoner in jail, it really changes the way you think about it. I would love to know how you think we got here. Sean, i will go to you. What are the parts of criminal Justice Reform that we do not talk about enough as far as changing the conversation in public . I believe people here are in agreement that we should do something. Round these ideas out . But start with how we got here, and then we will hit it pivot. The governor alluded to how it started really with slavery and then reconstruction, and then the onslaught of jim crow which has played a huge role in shaping what our contemporary criminal justice s drug offenders who were locked up for selling marijuana on the Street Corner or doing drugs that really did not represent a threat to anyone. That is true, but the way we set suggested it is that if we take those nonviolent drug offenders out of prison, then it will simply go away. That is sadly not the case. We have this additional conversation about this blurry line of what constitutes a nonViolent Crime should nonViolent Crime. A lot of them and i work with serving life sentences a locked up for violent offenses, but they do not do anything that we would think of as ostensibly violent. When they were arrested, they gun, and in many states that constitutes as a Violent Crime regardless of if are usingsing you tha tgun or not. So, what beyond nonviolent drug offenses have let us to this moment . We are starting to talk about prosecutors more and more often, but there is this mythology of the criminal Justice System that everybody goes to court, there is a jerry, and it is there is a jury, and that it is very dramatic. That is not the case. Cases end with a plea bargain. The discretion was taken away from the judges and given to prosecutors. Ostensibly, that would be a good thing, because prosecutors are democratically elected, and so we intuitively believe that there is more transparency. That if someone is doing something wrong, we can just not reelect them next time. The reality is that the role of the prosecutor the same level of transparency just is not exist as it would in a different elected capacity. So, we do not really know a lot about what prosecutors are doing in the same way that we would know about city council members. So many of those things are in the dark. Portable we have to do is recognize that prosecutors have a wide range of discretionary power that is often used to put people away for much longer than they need to be. An important statistic to think about is that by 2030, a third of our prisoners will be over the age of 55 years old. When we talk about the sort of relationship between the economics of the issue and the morality of this issue, it is not simply that we are putting people in prison long after all social science straight that they are less and less likely to commit a crime. All the data suggest that after a certain age, after 35 years old, the likelihood of you committing a crime goes down in a dramatic manner. When we are not addressing that, you have all the Health Care Costs which are going to be associated with this increasing in age population. You have the cost of staffing and building more prisons, so is notson we got here simply because of nonviolent drug offenses. It is not just because of the war on drugs come it is because we moved from a system because of the war on drugs, but it is because that a lot of discretionary areas were moved to prosecutors which operate more in the dark. There are issues on the front and back end. The first would be policing. There are issues in policing that have come to the forefront in recent years with artisan, baltimore, and all these other cities. So, we have to reexamine that. We have to reexamine what clint just said about having way too many criminal laws in this country. Have 7000 or 8000 things that are considered wrong and criminalized, when you make everything illegal you give all the power to the prosecutor. When legislatures state legislatures or Congress Pass these laws, they write them very broadly. What they write is the law is not actually the law, because the law is whatever the assistant u. S. Attorney or the state Prosecutor Says it is. There are some of the laws that we do not enforce. Then, you have the criminal process area. I would say the biggest need there is representation of defendants. We have all these wonderful procedural protections in the bill of rights to the veranda rights, you legal searches and seizures, and the right to a jury trial, but if you do not have a lawyer, a good lawyer who can weaponize those rights, none of those really matter. None of those matter when you have a public defender who has 300 cases a year, no one can do a good job doing that. So, representation is part of our Biggest Issue there. On the whole, the United States cars rates people incarcerate people for far longer at greater rates than any other country. When i talk about prison reform, the first thing i tell about give them at to long sentence to begin with. It is very difficult for a prisoner to get up every day, seize the day, and sort of improve themselves when you are facing a 20 year sentence. It is even harder when you are 20 years old at the time. Atemember when i was looking being incarcerated for 11 years. I thought about when i was going to get out, i was good to be in my 30 years old, and im going to be so old. That is how a 20yearold thinks. It is hard to get people into that mindset of rehabilitation at at the end of the tunnel is so far off. There are so few prison systems in the world that are worse than ours. I some more drugs in federal prison than i ever saw out. Indictede eight guards at the prison i was at. I saw things that did not make sense as a rational matter. We had a great Welding Program where people were getting out and getting hired making 25 an hour. For some of getting out of prison, that is the gold standard. Then, a new warden came in and said he could get more money if you changed the program. So, he took the Welding Program out, and he started a Business Management associate degree. That no one is going to hire a felon to manage their business when they get out. Last, there is the reentry. Nothing that really prepared me for things that i needed to know when i got out. Something simple like getting a drivers license. Eventually people revert back before. They did thats recidivism rate is high. Successful reentry story i have ever seen, almost all of community. E people coming out of prison whether its at a church or nonprofit. Something. Because when you have Community Around you, you dont want to crimes. Ew you dont want to let those down. Our Current Community puts them of isolation and makes it hard for them to continue outside world. Thats why the move to put closer to parents is so important. Same for adults that have kids. The adults toant be able to see their kids more often while theyre in incarcerated. We dont do a very good job preparing any of these things. Outcomes are so bad. Prettycan see, its daunting because we need reform finish. Rt to thank you. I think whats so important seans point, its the recognition that there are multiple systems complicit in this outcome. Its not just about police. Not just about prosecutors and defenders. Its about all of this. Daunting. More list, dd one to your i kind of see four steps. There are a lot of children who this culture. There are children who are born into this. Are 12,000 pregnant women. N prison every year the mothers are shackled while giving birth. Its deal for the mother but for the child. It makes it much harder for the deliver a healthy baby. You got children who are born into this. Culture that clint walked us through that born into communities that have been massived by incarceration and war on drugs. Born into this idea that internalize people that look like you and people in your neighborhood are more the folks you see on tv. First youre born into this culture. Youre disciplined into it school. Get in we were training teachers in st. Louis. I went to one of the schools someone else was in charge. Members wasaff there to observe teacher. She said i need you to come down here immediately. I came down to find a 7yearold handcuffed to a chair. A 7yearoldwhat can possibly have done that bad that handcuffed to a story. Story that i was told did not meet the bar for that kind of restriction. To recognize that culture of education is one of not ofnce and empowerment. Its all about controlling your body and controlling the way you move. Controlling how much you move. Sense 7yearold handcuffed to a chair. Ofing a conversation instead asking whats wrong, thats the solution. Of mine to a friend yesterday who sister pulled her son out the school three days in. He said were on uniform. Ir son kept coming home, cant sit the way they wanted me to sit for 45 minutes. Compliance and restriction is better than we adultnt is what thinking. It is deeply problematic for children. Imagine coming from a culture that says, somehow the way that people like me behave is criminal. Institution that tells me the same thing that gives me the same message, im continuously internalizing this idea. Talked aboutrnor criminal justice resolution. Our young people are discouraged the revolution from beginning. Heres whats interesting. Amanda ripley done some really reporting on this. There are 22 states that have whats called disturbance in schools. This is what i mean when i talk everydayminalizing childhood behavior. You said all of us are teachers. Disturbed. Een we were all disturbed at some point. At a multiple Intelligence Private school, my disturbance was seen as creative to myething to talk mother about during Parent Teacher conference. For so many young people seen as criminal. Lot of these videos that weve the thing that, happens in school where we see officers throwing kids and kids getting shackled, the thing that happens behind the scenes is that often the young person who out the video is actuallied acy disturbance. R if youre discouraged from the truth, you can bet that criminal Justice Revolution need will not come. Youre born into and youre discouraged from revolutionizing it. At the federal level, especially now, were not seeing any protection for it. Deeply worried when i see whats happening at this of education. How many complaints have been dismiss. The last few weeks. If theres no place to take these things if theres no one going to do something about this, then we end up in the exact same system that you described. I would add that we created a younge for too many people that give them the idea that this is normal. Have tothe way things be. Governor talked about the danger of convention and how we can get cycle because weve always done it this way. So long weve always been this way. Were not going to get that until wen we need start protecting them and empowering them. Ini thought some of that prison. Whelm oh when i got to the rowral prison there was a of cell. I tell this story a lot. Of cells row africanamerican men they call themselves neighbors. Because they were themselves next to each other. But also neighbors the feds come into their neighborhood in milwaukee and basically got them huge crack conspiracy. Gave them 20 years sentences. Of thosee about ten guys. When i got to the prison they half way through their sentence. I was getting ready to come home and so were they. It would have thought be a great day and joy for them. Years, was last few their son started coming in prison. You take the dads how the expectrhood, what do you to happen . Theres this cycle of people coming in and out of prison. Weve got to do something to break it. It devastates families. Devastates communities. The reality is that, the most segregated city in the United States. You cannot disentangled the realities housing segregation housing discrimination and social engineering that made it communities were prioritized bedrockrtunities social upon which generational wealth and health founded upon. Trajectory that put someone on a trajectory to end up in prison. Important that we thinking about this on the front end and while people are in prison and backend and too often, education this often happen. About these issues and people look at a school and theyll say, the techie teachers not doing this. Students are or not doing this. Sameison we fall into the trap. We look at we say this is whats happening a in the prison. The recidivism. Were not talking about how prison fits into the sort of larger ecosystem of things that are happening before someone prison. S up in its essential that were having this conversation. These conversations alongside one another. Do we get out of this mess. We talk about what the problem is. Its so bad. We do . Itsf the things you said,. Ot just nonviolent we can still have a problem in the way people dont just talk about. And question of like what is violence. Like go, if you are you being around the crime is code violent offense in places. There is this question if you what a felon. Its the most heinous version looks like. Me what i saw as a crime places and chicago. How do we help people think about these fundamental issues. Struck me how in the normalized it. [indiscernible] programming or even substantive thats happening during those years. That. Ruck by dont about people we who talk about in public. On tv everybody gets a public defender. There are states do that have defenders systems. We dont talk about that. These private attorneys giving people advice but not coordinated way. Wild. S sort of. Hird will be focus on literacy shon and brittany thinking about what are we going on the front doing. What are we not you got cities like baltimore, cannot read. What does it mean to create opportunity for people that cant read . You have a captive audience. No pun intended. They are not going anywhere. You could run the most stream literacy program. It. Can do people that staff prisons and jails are social workers. They are not educators. Mental health professionals. Important. Ly t for the teaching moment this . You get out of what are the biggest levels. Energy be now. E where should we focus on. How would you people ask you what can i do. Them. Your response to i think about that question a lot. Time is infinite. I want to do work where i feel impact. An make an i cant tell you as i feel like i always make an impact every go to capitol hill. I come back from capitol hill is this worthng, my time. I think the first thing we need do, we have lot of people feel a way. [laughter] a lot more talk than discussions about criminal the last five in years than we have sense ive been alive. Think one thing we forget, we convinced yesterday. There are people who think to prison fro are the evil ones. You get to prison, my family me, they wouldt realize these are just normal people and whatever reason made mistake. I dont think we have convinced people yet, most people in that we need change. Thats one area that we need to do. People thatet more have been to prison out and become leaders in that and out in the community. I often tell people, i committed a Violent Crime. Im not a violent person. Turns out most of the social science, thats the big area for reform to me. We know so much more about how humans behave and behavioral science has made huge gains. You dont see any of that filter justice criminal practices. We know that people will age how their 30s and 40s. Yet we tend to lock up people or 30 years at a pop. Aen when theyre no longer danger to society. I think we need to educate average americans about what the criminal Justice System is like. Do a, thereaces to are a lot of nonprofits and advocacy groups. Im involved with families against mandatory minimum. With everyone tom Aclu National Prison prison fellowship which is the largest Prison Ministry in the world. Places to fit of in. We got to convince americans problem. The what we need is one state. Say,tate to jump down and were going to redo everything. Were not going to lock up everyone. Going to use prison as a last resort and were going to prisoners. We treat if we have one state that does that and has success, that will difference maker. To pretty huge changes. Right now, were just making margins and what the population 2. 2 million people. Big changes. We need big changes. Convince one jurisdiction to make the change. One does, the outcomes will be other statesr that will be forced for it. Theyll see the money. Money that we expend. That can be spent better places for locking people up decades. Well be taking question from crowd. Question. T your sometimes locking people up is policymakers. For becomes an easy solution even though it doesnt lead to its easy toe. Mess up to put them in a room. Say youre grounded or youre in trouble. Much more difficult to actually sit down with them and address of thet problems misbehavior. Do with thewe criminal Justice System. Doesntctly why it work. Clint . Im thinking about a couple of things. One i want to harken back on part of what we have to do. Really push ourselves away from the idea that nonviolent or the defenders. It will stop mass incarceration. The statistic that we hear, important. We have 5 percent of the population, 25 percent of the population. We move from a fourth of the world prison population to a the world prison population. Thats not to say that i want to be clear, those people should in prison. Im saying we shouldnt focus on that. Often time were focusing on that at the expense of a larger conversation. Real conversation has to happen that is difficult to happen. I give the governor lot of credit. Its important to know that he folks who were violent offenders. Politicallye difficult to navigate that with the ideaated what people think of. A murdererrybody is or rapist. Likecult thing to do is what we have to really consider what does it mean maybe someone for example, one of the men that i worked with, robbed mcdonalds when he was 17, shot the cashier. Currently 62 years old. The question is, should this person who took someones life when he was 17, clearly that is not okay. Clearly theyre should be some sort of justice for that. Question is, should that person spend the rest of their life in prison with no get out . Ty to which is the context he finds himself in. Serving life without the parole. Ity of these are difficult questions to grapple with. I remember when i was first prison, i didnt ask questions about why the men i in there. G with were my second year when i was in prison, i knew what everybody in the room had done. That, imo say withing time reading poems murderers. We have to when i working murderers. Didnt see especially when they did that thing as a child. Be punishedne throughout for the rest of their lives something they did as a child. I think thats a really important thing to address. One other point i want to make. Lot of people in this room are watching online or cspan or Business Owners or work with organizations or know people who are Business Owners and work with organizations. Like, what can i do . To account for small otherwise not decisions. Even if youre someone who is store. F a toy somebody comes in for interview youurns in application and see they were convicted, you have been trained with messages lifeghout your entire suggest that is something you should swipe aside. For you, it might be thats just good business. Im protecting my business or my coworker. My i think those are the moments where its really important to and checkp back yourself and ask, is that the that im making, am amaking a wholistic decision know abouterything i this person and the possibilities they offer as a future employee. I making this decision in a way that is predicated upon this formallying incarcerated. Allowing my biases to shape Business Decisions that im making. That are small decisions many people make that end up contributing to recidivism rates. Things. You teach. The first is properly treat. Woman nt [indiscernible] to talkally important about women who are incarcerated. Undiscussed. 71 of women who are experienced aave traumatic event. What is a traumatic event . They were either victims of or exposed to domestic violence. It means they suffered from abuse or they have experienced suffer from some kind of Mental Illness. This is what i mean when im theseg about all of systems being complicit. We can have a conversation about healthcare. When we dont properly treat women, they end up in the circumstances. We this isnt from some study. This is directly department of justice statistics. We know white women are much more likely to receive treatment are discovered to have these things than women of color criminalized. Period, end of story. Thats like, well of course. Are surprised by womenlume of incarcerated who probably preventible havent been treated correctly. I think thats one the really things. Second is properly train folks. On president obamas force, we talked a lot about training. To live if ag world with police, we need to be a broader conversation. If were going to live in this a ourd with this system, folks have to be trained prope properly. We made sure that when we were talking about training we werent just talking about detox officers. We were talking about teachers and administrators, school officials, School Resource officers and parents dont really understand who discipline looks like in a school. Need to understand what is right and what should be happening for improper. Nd what is its the kind of train that those folks are receive is not culturally irrelevant. Its not based in affirmation based in deficit. Especially when we think how much kids of color and girls in are adult early. We start to them more young asle as ands as five. Last thing we have to do, i want to shon is back humanize folks. You can lock people away for 20 or 30 years, if you dont see them in the human, we talked about this on the podcast. The thing we have to with. E i had family members incarcerated. Spin on very Different Things when you have to recognize, i still you and i you as human and valuable. Fighting a lot of way. Who dont see it that if we dont start looking at folks in these circumstances not going towere get anywhere. Quickly on that point, one of contributes to proximity. N is the extent to which people can those incarcerated really does a lot to recalibrate understands these institutions and people who are part of these institutions. There are organizations all you hop on google that do work around reentry here in around the country and around with formally incarcerated folks. Lot of these prisons and jails attempting to build some robust volunteer programs. You be surprise shocked how you say imail to a prison, am Yoga Instructor or i teach poetry, or im a cook. Give so desperate to desperate to provide that they can to the people in their prison. If you have some time and youre i contribute,an even if you can only go once a year, it really makes a difference for you and your ability to advocate on behalf of the community if you are no proximity. Proximity in a respectful way. Where youre offering the service. I went to a lot of prisons. A lot of people to prison. Ist they say, this profoundly changed. Prisoners but prison. Keeps you tethered to the the prison. Nd not people that do best are ones thinking about the day im home. Not whats going on here today the prison. You can all go volunteer and any prison and i would tell you that once you do, youll probably want to go back more and more. Youll want to invite other people. Thats what we really need. Volunteers to of go in. If the government not going to provide job training on how to we a drivers license, should. I think most of the solutions from not necessarily from government but from businesses and individuals. My wife sitting up here. She drove me around to 30 job interviews. This was in 2008, high findingn, no one was work. I just got out of federal prison. Thatas a resource to me other people did not have. Everybody thinks that im a pick yourself up by the boot straps story. That. E opposite of i had resources and people that life. Grace in my thats difference between me and the person that went back to prison. You its tell different. Ut its not. Some things shouldnt be the discretion like the random of wardens there. Theres a microphone that somebody has a microphone. My name is elliott. I wanted to thank the panel for a very good conversation. I have two questions. First i like to ask if anyone saw the piece on 60 minutes on the cook county prison in illinois . I was on plane. I like to ask about the statement that was on the panel that milwaukee is the most segregated community in the unite. I was married in milwaukee in 1972. That was some time ago. I like to hear if theres anymore evidence on that point . Theres a great book by sociologist matthew dubman, that sort of in part his research outlines in ways communities segregates contributes high homelessness rates that affects people of color and disproportionately affect women of color. Im going to Cook County Jail with a sheriff. I know they did 60 minutes special. Interesting lot of things in cook down. Cook county is place to look at for a model in some ways. You. Ank thank you for this awesome event. I think one of the things we to look at is the mindset prevails. Provenuilty until were innocent. Not the other way around. Goinge the frustration of to capitol hill for a too many times and coming back with nothing. Specific case i want to talk is i dont know how you havingnk we can afford broader situation. He happen to be a poor black raiseer who couldnt bail. In the end, he done nothing wrong. If you can speak to that for a minute, that would be appreciated. I literally just written down his name. It to go unspoken. I had really unique opportunity to honor him. If youre not familiar with his story, spike tv did a three or him. Part documentary on who falselyng man accused stealing a backpack. He was jailed far long time. Waiting trial. Not even having been convicted of anything. Suffered immense amount of abuses. Very difficult time this reentry and ultimately took his life. Notind his story to be particularly tragedy for me, he was one of the greatest heroes. His willingness to tell the story when he was alyre just would have undiscussed. Bringing thank you for him up. Are some Quick Solutions like closing places like records are necessary. Recognizing the records that in state. Ingle i think you see something much more insidious. Why we spend amount issues arium bias police. Disciplining keep folks on the force that shouldnt on. The force. Allow for many to exist around the country. A multilayere approach that take on policing the actual criminal Justice System and defense and theecutors and take on nature of jail. Especially juvenile detention facility. As youre still developing the thatof futile mentality exist in a lot of juvenile , can likecenters completely destroy the rest of your life. Sofind that his case was tragic but unfortunately, there were lot of him in the country. Answer to your question, weve got to come from every angle. What his story lownstrated, its far too bar. It seems to me to be far too low people becoming Correctional Officers. Inres a great piece a was mother jones last year by sean bauer. Undercover as a corrections as far as. He talk about how easy it was. Before he went undercover, he was a very well known reporter. He went under cover. Talked about how easy it was with,her people he worked who probably shouldnt have been in power and authority, thats inherent to being in incarcerated space who simply or the wayshe radar in which once they were in very little was accountability in terms of the operated. Tohink thats also something consider. Theres power bestowed upon who are Correctional Officers in prisons and jails throughout the country. Often talk about what what it doesnt take to get into that position. If these people qualified to be in positions where you look at youspike tv documentary, see the footage how the officers treating kaleese. I think thats something we need to be considering. Allowing to have into these prisons and how much power and accountability is being afforded to those individuals be clear, just to put this together for folks who havent, the Correctional Officers started this thing called the program. Gang system in then jail. They can snuggle in things what they wanted to do. Correctional officers. Who got jumped and when they got jumped. Here was your punishment. D. C. Doesnt have money bail, kentucky and new jersey. Is ae talk about it real thing that can happen. Close record. Closing it will essentially the creation of jail. Its been interesting. One of the hard things about we findmetimes ourselves with unlikely foe. You think about the correction officers. Of cities, the Correctional Officers are people of color, women. E they are people who are actually fighting against closing the prison. The prison they are out of job. To figure outot how to actually make this. Lasts time for one question. You. Ank im five year veteran of the system, justice criminal defense lawyer 20 years trial judge. Arizona of all places. Arizona, but maricopa county. Sheriff joes thats a pleasure riding on the ilely vitor. He was in the back of the elevator. He said, theres one of those on. Ral judges just got theres anymore fascist on board, please push button. Ut butt the problem is so daunting, the task set for reformers is so vast and difficult. Maybe a simpler solution would the systemre bankrupt, put it into a bankruptcy type proceeding, maybe reorganization and charge our policymakers with a task on a slate board, white board, im a little bit worried. Even in the neurosciences, the finding is, they are very arechy and many findings false actually. I just wanted to know what youre driving there . Youre talking more about behavior, individual defendants. Using technology. Thats not something im about inhave thought great deal. It troubles me that judges and using that. Are behavioral science im talking than is even more basic that. Are undeniable by the time they hit 35 and 45 and 55. Not very great. We also know that behavioral science to deter someone, you dont hear a lot about Jeff Sessions the attorney general. Deterd long extensions to people. Lets think about the types of people that commit crime. Drug addiction, alcohol addictions, Mental Health illness, impulse control issues and young and immature. All five of those in one case. These are not the people that weigh out the consequences of a long sentence. Were, let me just assume the person has periods of Mental Illness will think about the what the punishment will be before they commit the crime. They have to find a mandatory minimum and maximum punishment. To at a 500 page manuel. E its ludicrous. We know what deters people. Thought of getting caught. Would think that everyone can get on board with. We want more policemen, catching doing crimes because that deters people. Less incarceration. People dont dont know the punishment theyll face. Never met one person, not one person who knew the amount of punishment they to face for felony. Ng a federal thats the behavioral science about. King our criminal justice policies are in opposition to that. Sowonder why they dont work well. The way now, we move past that. That is real. There is predicted data that is problem. Risk assessment. He brought up interesting examples. Done what d. C. Y has done by getting rid of bail, with riskced him kaleese would jail. Till been in those things are like real problem. We need to make sure. From visiting the jails and prisons, they do collect a ton of data that were not actually using for anything. The amount ofjust data that jails collect at the pross. The day you get booked. Have,er attributes you you probably had them the day book. You got we should be able to how to intervene. Not sure the system is set up to do. Its shocking data about bail. Hard across the country to atktrack we cant look how a judge makes decisions around bail. The data. D to find what did defense attorney ask for. The data not easily defined. Ways we can use technology and data to be more thative and precise with solution. Thank you for this panel. Name is joe hong. I write for magazines called diverse. Just wondering if you could speak to the relationship and criminalr ed Justice Reform and some of the that psychologists and universities can take to reform . Te to. I deal with that issue a lot everyone ask, shon what was the madehing you got out that a difference. Post secondary education is the equalizer. The more prisoner gets out, the receives then he better off hes going to be. Its even more important for prisoners. Universities is a really Good Community for them to get back on their feet. Supportive. I encourage a lot of you universities to think more about their admissions process. Withdvising lot of people felony convictions that are on their way to currently and recently congratulated law school. Graduated law school. Its hugely important. I worked with this place in seattle called post prison project. Seattle recidivism rate was about 55 . Throughpeople that went this program, this program just got donations and distributed out of people coming prison. Everything from a bus ticket to college tuition. People they were funding in law school. They this someone in culinary had someone in welding school. Recidivism rate, 2 . Secondary education is the great equalizer for prisoners to come out. Gives them legitimacy in eyes of the public. Its a Great Community for them involved with. You have teachers that really go to bat for you. Ist thing you want to do commit a new crime and let them down. Forward for ay lot of people. Problem is, we need the resources and we need the to step up to the people. D admit more there are places that are doing this. University of washington where i went to law school, they dont ask the question about history. Inal thats the way forward for a lot people. I would add in a practical especiallynerships with alternative k through 12 programs. Friend of mine ran a set of schools alternative school it is young women. She come from a more traditional through 12 background like i did. Prepared for how many young women have the will to but engaging in traditional education was not an option for them. It meant they couldnt go earn money. If i cant go earn money in isditional ways, temptation to earn money in ways that me. t good for there are what she started to recognized that she needed to give those young women able tortunity to be work and go to school in a way that happen much more rapidly theyre counterparts. She tried to discourage from for other university and folks that end up preying on those students. For her to find institutions with Higher Education that were willing to resources, the time actualize that partnership. Thats what they needed. They needed to get those College Credits to get that advanced able to do that simultaneous before working a job. Also turn that into further jobs. Those kind of really Practical Partnership the things we need to see more of. Just say that, i was working with the boston project. Y prison that is one of the few remaining that certainly across the country, that offer b. A. s and associate degrees to those who are incarcerated. Lot programs doing that before the crime bill which thed have decimated educational infrastructure within prison. And the idea with that was propagated, why would shes conviction convicts is access to college. Payinger forbe them to go to school. Rand corporation did a study, youre 43 less likely to end up back in prison if you participate in Educational Opportunities while incarcerated. 13 more likely to get a job after. That number is huge. It would be a lot higher if wasnt such profound job talkedworkforce as we about. Difficult to overstate the the 1994 crime bill which decimated the entire landscape of education. Universitiese putting professors in a lot of these institutions. Didnt have the resources. There wasnt the same sort of federal or state level incentive to operate in these prisons. They are far less opportunities have access too college, College Classes and master classes in a way that had existed before then. Part of what has to happen, enda administration toward of his second term, had started a Pilot Program around pell grants and prisons that we are unlikely to see continued under administration. These are things that when likee are considering voting and elections like these are so much of what we talked about are small examples what the consequences are of certain people being in office. Sometimes people dont consider of the landscape of that exist. Wer win were think being who to vote for and who not to vote for whats the same and whats different. I can say in prison, that is that is felt very deeply. Especially people who been in there for a while. Can tell you what prisons felt like before pell grants were stripped away and how it feels like a different atmosphere. Before we go, lot of people talked about ban the box. Thing. Progressive the research complicates that. I want people to hear that end. E we i want to be fair. This is the Research Come out last few years. Its not specific to school. Different for College Admittance or jobs. The research that come out lettingn the box not employers not ask about your criminal record a box, in which many of these states make you check whether or not you have convicted of felony before. Fewtimes. O do that a its understood, this is not helpful to those who are formally incarcerated. Constantly remind were once inou prison. The state continues to punish you. Its something we should try to move away from. What complicates it, some of the done as ofats been late has suggested that in removed,ere the boxes employers would simply assume was a statistic study, black man coming into tell whether or not somebody is a formally incarcerated person, they begin that more of the black men coming in applying for jobs were formally incarcerated. They had to make a judgment call. Since i dont know, i have to if you areure out former felon or not. Often than not, they would make that decision at a higher rate than they were previously. What would happen, the study likelihood, it gone up a bit. Which was the goal. Opportunities for black men who werent incarcerated went down. A way like was not that is. So black men less likely to get job. For us s important there are not easy solutions to this work. Its important for us to reject or question things that look as easy. Y are sort of like easy universal solution. Saying we should completely forget about the box. Needss more research that to be done. I think this is an important helps to complicate what this means. Thegoes back to before, state has a lot of responsibilities. Lot of this is going to be privateg in the individual decisions that people make everyday with their small and organizations and corporations and the box will to remove biases from people. I dont think the box would helped me. Just think about it. I dont check the box. Time,t comes resume theres ten year resume gap on mine. Been able toave explain other than to tell them what happened. Ishink ban the box important. Sometimes pat ourselves on the pass ao quickly when we bill. Instead pain what we should be doing is convincing businesses, we want you to withmatively hire people felony convictions and get them to agree to do that. We would probably have better more successful outcomes if we could. Brittany thank you so much for being on the panel. Thank you for being here today. Well see you. [applause] 54thday mark the anniversary of dr. Martin luther washington. On today the reverend al sharpton will lead the march for justice from the mlk memorial to the Justice Department with marchers hotel ontrump pennsylvania avenue. Eastern. Tart at 12 30 also coming uptied, President Trump will meet with the president of finland and the two will hold a joint news conference. Start 4 20 eastern. Tomorrow, the president travels surveyingell be damage from Hurricane Harvey and flooding. The president will meet with state local and federal officials to discuss the response to the storm and flooding. Associated press reports the white house issued a federal declaration for louisiana as Hurricane Harvey dumps bands of heavy rain on that state. Houstons police chief is saying 2000 people have been rescued from flooding. 185 request for help are pending. Texas senator john cornyn has has 5000overnment people on sight in texas and louisiana. Book tv visited capitol hill to ask member of congress what reading this summer. Right now im reading this dreamland this is a book about the history of opioids in our country. Its a nonfiction book. Its absolutely fascinating. Epidemic in our country right now. Deaths byave more Drug Overdose than we do car accidents. The book lays out foundation how we got there. It should be required reading as we move towards creating policy to deal with this opioid our country. Book tv wants to know what youre reading. Send us your Summer Reading list tv post it toook facebook page. Facebook. Com book tv. Book tv on cspan 2. Television for serious readers. The onlyight be government class you ever take. Youre going to be a voter forever. Youll be a juror forever. I need to give you tools that are going to help you for the rest of your life in those pursuits. Tuesday night. High School Teachers william camp and sunshine, discuss how Current Events affect their lessons on history, politics and government. As a history component, this is chance for them to learn story. Heir their story doesnt begin the born. They are realize that to wait a minute, this doesnt start with me p what i contribute, where im coming from, ballpark of this story. Owing thome take in allowing them to take in other people opinion and through gives them a chance to really think. This is how i see the world. Thiss it a i see the world way. How can i expand that . Tuesday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan, cspan. Org and listen cspan radio app. This morning the head of the managementrgency