What Can Obama Really Do?

Today Barack Obama becomes the 44th U.S. President, the first Black president in our history and the bearer of millions of hopes and dreams. It's impossible to overstate the significance of this day - it'll be one to remember.

There is so much hope on Obama's shoulders that it will be impossible for him to meet our demands. On the other hand, it’ll be pretty easy to look more productive, intelligent, curious, dynamic and presidential than his predecessor. So while he won’t meet the expectations of the most optimistic, he will redefine our image of the president’s office for the better.

After the jump I highlight a few real changes the criminal justice system could see from Barack Obama in his first 12 months:

Renewing and Funding The Second Chance Act – In April 2008, President Bush signed the Second Chance Act, which sends federal grants to organizations providing housing, job training, treatment and other services to help formerly incarcerated individuals build new lives. The law must be renewed in March, and President Obama can take the lead by making it clear that he intends to provide the services to ex-prisoners to help them reintegrate into society.

End Federal Raids on Legal Marijuana Dispensaries - Obama has said he will direct the Justice Department to end federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries in states where it is legal (like California). The Bush DOJ has been clashing with state authorities and trashing dispensaries every chance it gets, and Obama can end this with one phone call. Since this post is about real changes to expect in his first 12 months, I'm not going any further on drug laws. Don't get your hopes up.

The Supreme Court - See my post today for more on Obama's potential impact on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Improvements on the federal bench and Department of Justice - George W. Bush and his Attorneys General transformed the federal bench and the Department of Justice into a political machine where party affiliation was more important than ability. Politics have no place in prosecutions, and President Obama has the opportunity to build, under Attorney General Eric Holder, a nonpartisan Justice Department. Through his appointments to the federal judiciary, Obama can move us toward a compassionate application of our country's laws.

Forensic Science in Courtrooms - in the coming months, the National Academy of Sciences will release a report on the use of various forensic disciplines in our courts. We have used practices like hair and shoeprint comparisons for years without any clear standards, and this needs to change.

Immigration Policy – my fellow change blogger Dave Bennion has been writing on the Immigration Blog about the unprecedented explosion of immigration detention facilities in this country, mostly run by one of two private companies (Corrections Corporation of America and GEO Group – both of which pay lobbyists to advocate for more incarceration). Bush's focus on locking up immigrants has had disasterous consequences for federal prosecutors, who don't have the resources to work on both nonstop immigration cases and their regular caseload. A shift to a more empathetic immigration policy under Obama will more resources in the justice department can be used on more pressing matters - like investigating and prosecuting crime.

The sum of Barack Obama's policies and the example set by his leadership will be much, much more than the parts I mention above. As I wrote yesterday, it's education that prevents crime. It's jobs and strong families and active communities and pride in our country. By working together to build a better America from the ground up, we will see improvements through society, including in our criminal justice system.

Happy inauguration.