Clinton is calling Obama to soft on putting people in prison WHAT!!!!!

[bigdarryl]

Someone needs to tell her that most of the people behind bars are minorities on drug charges because of the strict laws in this country. DAMN she's sounding more and more like a rethug

[maddezmom]

1. is there a link or quote?

[peacebird]

2. I asked for a link in his last post about what Clinton is saying re: Obama... Haven't gotten it yet.

[BeyondGeography]

6. Link

==Obama faces the prospect of severe and hostile vetting from his primary opponents, however. Upon her arrival in New Hampshire this morning, Hillary Clinton signaled that she intends to play on Obama's as yet unexploited political weaknesses: "Who will be able to stand up to the Republican attack machine?" she asked at an appearance in Nashua.

Hillary's aides point to Obama's extremely progressive record as a community organizer, state senator and candidate for Congress, his alliances with "left-wing" intellectuals in Chicago's Hyde Park community, and his liberal voting record on criminal defendants' rights as subjects for examination.

Along the same lines, ABC reported that Clinton aides gave the network various examples, of Obama's controversial stands. The aides cited Obama's past assertion that he would support ending mandatory minimum sentences for federal crimes, pointing to a 2004 statement at an NAACP-sponsored debate: "Mandatory minimums take too much discretion away from judges."==

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/04/new-hampshire-will-be-key_n_79873.html

[peacebird]

8. thank you!

[maddezmom]

9. thank you for the link

:hi:

[Lerkfish]

10. "left wing intellectuals" is a common republican buzzword

this is what you get when you hire republican strategists to run a democratic campaign.

the DLC is pricing themselves out of an election, again.

[BeyondGeography]

12. From Hyde Park no less

:scared:

[madrchsod]

14. so hillary is using republican talking points to attack obama

wow talk about taking the low road....i guess the goldwater girl is going back to her roots--hyde park liberals.....

[slick8790]

28. Obama's against mandatory minimums?

He just scored major points with me, I didn't know that. I'm assuming Clinton is for them, from the context of the article.

[MH1]

32. Agree, that improves Obama's tally with me

I kind of figured he was but now we know.

Don't hold your breath waiting for Mrs. Clinton to make a definitive statement of her own position.

[ellacott]

46. Her husband did sign the 3 strikes law

I also wonder how she feels about the recent ruling changing the disparity in crack/cocaine sentencing.

I hope she brings it up in the debate tonight.

[gaiilonfong]

3. She is really getting desperate

Enjoy the meltdown, after what the Clinton's did to the progressiuve movement and the Democratic Party in the 90's she deserves it.

[Colobo]

19. Exactly.

[lapfog_1]

4. change it to "Clinton is calling Obama too soft..." please. - n/t

[fadedrose]

18. how to change?

I think I accidentally fixed a post once by clicking "edit" on the OP when I was the author of it - made the change and it worked.

[lapfog_1]

48. The OP needed to fix the "to" to a "too".

I couldn't parse the headline when I first read it.

Too late now (or should I just say "to late now").

It's not that big of a deal.

[billybob537]

5. Hsu is in prison

did hillary have to return that $800,000
http://www.againsthillary.com/2007/08/

[maddiejoan]

11. Did Obama return his money?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/07/AR2007090703047.html

[chascarrillo]

15. Donated it to charity, but nice try.

linkage: http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2007/08/sweet_column_obama_dumps_hsu_d.html

[maddiejoan]

16. So did Clinton

so also nice try.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8RB03200&show_article=1

[chieftain]

17. What is your response to the OP? Do you think that it is wrong

to oppose mandatory minimum sentences which severely curtail judicial discretion?

[maddiejoan]

20. well

I disagree with the premise that it "severely curtails judicial discretion".

I think there DOES need to be a mandatory minimum.

[chieftain]

24. Fair Enough

[chascarrillo]

45. I never even implied she didn't

... your comment on Obama, however, did.

[Thrill]

7. Grasping at straws

Its over for Hilary.

[madrchsod]

13. "he would support ending mandatory minimum sentences

federal crimes".....the supremes just ruled on the crack-powdered cocaine sentencing.

[Evergreen Emerald]

22. that is a bad idea. Mandatory minimums and maximums help the little guy.

Before the sentencing reform a sentence for a similar crime would be from 0 to 20 years. Any bias in the local (IE redneck locations), or bias against specific races or genders would be minimized when judges are required to sentence within guidelines.

[dailykoff]

33. If the little guy happens to be a prison guard

or a private prison operator.

[Evergreen Emerald]

36. I don't understand what that means?

[dailykoff]

37. It means mandatory minimums pump $$ into the prison industrial complex

also known as the law-enforcement community.

[Evergreen Emerald]

39. I disagree. Mandatory minimums (and maximums) give fairness

to the system. Without guidelines, there was huge discrepancies in sentencing for the same offense. A guy in Seattle would get probation for stealing a car, and a guy in podunk USA would get 20 years. The guidelines are colored blind.

[dailykoff]

41. Theoretically, but the practical effect

was to overload prisons with small-time offenders, mostly minorities, serving mandatory sentences for petty crimes.

[alcibiades_mystery]

30. So would I: mandatory minimums are awful

Give judges discretion to actually JUDGE!!!!

[Evergreen Emerald]

38. judges are elected by the local people.

What was discovered, which caused there to be a mandatory guideline, is that there was unfairness in the sentences with minorities or those with less money getting twice as much time for a crime. The jurisdiction also made a difference, with Urban areas more lenient and red-neck places putting people away for 20 years for stealing a car.

Mandatory guidelines are important to assure more fairness in the system. And--the judges still have discretion.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

40. If he's talking about federal sentencing guidelines, it's different

because federal judges aren't elected; they are appointed.

[alcibiades_mystery]

44. Mandatory minimums are used to mitigate unfairness?

That's ridiculous.

I can see how capped out maximum sentences could do that, but I don't see any way that mandatory minimum sentences could. They are a supposed "anti-crime" measure as a sop to the punishment culture, and little more.

[Onlooker]

21. Is she actually using this?

Is there any example other than something some unnamed aide said to a reporter?

[Patsy Stone]

23. Um... Hillary? This issue is a non-starter.

Didn't the SCOTUS just expand some judicial discretion for mandatory minimum sentences? Oh, I think they did -- and they are far from liberals last time I checked.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071227/OPINION01/712270320/1068/OPINION

[mckeown1128]

26. are you saying that Hillary is attacking Obama from

the right of SCOTUS...that is scary..

[dailykoff]

25. Now she's appealing to her REAL base -- aging boomers

aka the Geritol set.

[Anouka]

47. Sucks to realize one is 'the establishment' and 'fuddy duddy'.

The person in the mirror isn't the person one recognizes.

Is it true Obama has worked hard in Illinois to remove the death penalty because of what's happening with DNA evidence and innocents being released?

I also like Obama's stance on getting rid of mandatory minimums; HOWEVER, from what I understood, black community leaders were the ones who actually demanded the Clintons' push mandatory minimums. The arguments were supposed to make sense, for the benefit of the black community; the results have not.

But I may be mis-remembering. The old school black community leadership may also need a wakeup regarding being of the establishment instead of fighting against it.

[alcibiades_mystery]

27. Now Obama's "too liberal" - Trying to peel off NH independents

And guide them toward the GOP booth.

Good strategy, as a theoretical matter. Remains to be seen whether it will be effective.

More funny will be the head spinning of all the DUers claiming Obama is too conservative. Ah, the children will learn that this is all politics: in some primaries you accuse the other guy of being to conservative, then new numbers come in and he's too liberal. Fun and games, people. Don't take it too seriously, or you make yourself look silly.

[bigdarryl]

35. I consider myself fairly liberal and i am a independent

so all independents are not right wing or conservative.

[alcibiades_mystery]

43. I am an independent too

Nowhere did I say all independents are right wing or conservative (which is totally foolish anyway), so I don't even really understand your response.

[ecstatic]

29. I can't picture her campaign being that dense. I don't believe this story

The Clintons are too smart

[dailykoff]

31. It worked for bill in '92

remember Ricky Ray Rector? Why they think this is 1992 is another question entirely.

[bunnies]

34. OMG! Hes against the death penalty too! That bastard!

:sarcasm:

[Armstead]

42. Maybe the Clintons have re-hired Dick Morris

[Zynx]

49. The trend of politicizing crime was a disaster for this country.

As I kind of like Hillary, this is disappointing.

[Lerkfish]

51. its a no-effort campaign slogan.

you can promise to be tougher on crime, and then once elected, do nothing and no one ever holds you to it.

its sort of like when someone is running for sherriff and they start arrest streetwalkers to show how effective they are-- streetwalkers, by necessity, are NOT hard to find. Its not like its great police work to go find them.

[Dr. Strange]

50. She's right...we really don't have enough people in prison!

:eyes: