Day One

Today, we have a new president. The celebrations are over and it's time for Barack Obama to get to work. The first inspiring sign of his new administration came even before he took the oath yesterday, the launch of the new whitehouse.gov.

But where is criminal justice? The only mention I could find was under Urban Policy, where the administration says, among other things:

Reduce Crime Recidivism by Providing Ex-Offender Supports: America is facing an incarceration and post-incarceration crisis in urban communities. Obama and Biden will create a prison-to-work incentive program, modeled on the successful Welfare-to-Work Partnership, and work to reform correctional systems to break down barriers for ex-offenders to find employment.

It is admirable to refer to "an incarceration and post-incarceration crisis," and I will watch closely to see if this prison-to-work program comes to fruition. But as Max Miller commented on my Obama post yesterday - we need to tell the Obama administration that we care about reforming the criminal justice system, decriminalizing marijuana and other prison issues so he they don't take our support for granted.

There's alot on Obama's plate right now, and criminal justice reform could get pushed if we don't speak up. Take two minutes today to tell the new administration that you care about fixing the unequal and broken criminal justice system.