Booker and Paul Discuss Crime Sentencing Reform

Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Rand Paul have an excellent discussion on MSNBC about the racial problems with the criminal justice system. The senators also talk about expunging criminal records for nonviolent drug offenses.

Booker and Paul both come out strongly against solitary confinement for minors. The ACLU has described solitary confinement as a human rights violation.

Solitary confinement of youth is itself a serious human rights violation and can constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under international human rights law. In addition, the conditions that compound the harm of solitary confinement (such as lack of psychological care, physical exercise, family contact, and education) often constitute independent, concurrent, and serious human rights violations. Solitary confinement cannot be squared with the special status of adolescents under US constitutional law regarding crime and punishment. While not unusual, it turns the detention of young people in adult jails and prisons into an experience of unquestionable cruelty.

It is time for the United States to abolish the solitary confinement of young people. State and federal lawmakers, as well as other appropriate officials, should immediately embark on a review of the laws, policies, and practices that result in young people being held in solitary confinement, with the goal of definitively ending this practice. Rather than being banished to grow up locked down in isolation, incarcerated adolescents must be treated with humanity and dignity and guaranteed the ability to grow, to be rehabilitated, and to reenter society.

This is a rare interview when two lawmakers go on cable news to actually talk about policy.

Bill Nelson Becomes ENDA Co-Sponsor

Equality Florida did a Twitter campaign to make Sen. Bill Nelson become a co-sponsor of ENDA (the Employment Nondiscrimination Act). The Twitter campaign worked. ENDA now has 56 co-sponsors.

"I am pleased to have Senator Nelson’s support on thisbill. Momentumisbuilding to end LGBT discrimination in the workplace," said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), thebill's sponsor. "This is anissue of fundamental fairness.”

ENDA will have 57 co-sponsors when Cory Booker is sworn into the Senate. This is why elections matter. We wouldn't be talking about the potential passage of ENDA if there were 50 tea party Republicans in the Senate.

The Bad Side of Cory Booker's Victory

Cory Booker may have won the New Jersey Senate Democratic primary, but he didn't generate a lot of excitement with voters. The Daily Beast reports that turnout was horrible.

With over 98% of precincts reporting on Wednesday morning, only 481,847 voters had cast ballots in either the Democratic or the Republican primaries out of nearly 5.5 million registered voters. Barring a miracle where tens of thousands of votes appear out of the ether (and in New Jersey that can’t be entirelyruled out), turnout will be well under 10% of registered voters in a statewide race that received national media attention.

Turnout is usually lower when there isn't a presidential election. That said, the voter turnout was pathetic. Booker's Senate campaign is generating a lot of national coverage. That isn't translating into enthusiasm for Booker. The Democratic Party should ask themselves if Booker is someone they want to groom for bigger things. So far the answer seems to be no.

Quote of the Day

"I don't know if anybody here has seen anybody shot. I have. I don't know if anybody here has had to put their hand in somebody's chest and try to stop the bleeding so somebody doesn't die, I have."

Mayor Cory Booker, arguing for stricter gun control laws during an appearance on This Week.