Democrats Fight — With Each Other — Over The Kochs - BuzzFeed News - Evan McMorris-Santoro:
July 17, 2015 - "Democrats are defending the efforts of the Koch brothers. And they’re defending the Kochs from attacks by other Democrats, who say the brothers’ criminal justice work is just a 'scam'....
"It’s a weird turn of events, but the unsurprising conclusion to the drug war collision course: progressives and libertarians, led by the Kochs, agree that the tough-on-crime policies of the 1980s and ’90s need to change, from mandatory-minimum sentencing to the use of criminal records in hiring. President Obama even praised the Kochs this week, a week in which he commuted the life sentences of 46 drug offenders and advocates say big changes could really be coming....
"Beyond the politics, many progressive-leaning advocates inside the criminal justice movement actually don’t think the Koch brothers ... are trying to pull a fast one with their support for the cause. Mark Holden, Koch Industries’ general counsel, can talk for hours about the minutiae of the criminal justice system and the ways it should be changed to be fairer to the poor and minorities. Liberal advocates often single him out as a powerful ally.
"Outside of the legislative fight, the Kochs have won praise from the left for instituting changes within Koch-owned companies [that] advocates on the left have long said would mitigate the impact a conviction could have on felons long after they leave prison. In April, Koch Industries stopped asking prospective employees about their criminal history on applications.... Holden said the banning the box was an effort to make hiring at Koch Industries a model. 'We removed the box from our application because we are focused on finding the best candidates for employment based on who they are now and their entire person,' he told BuzzFeed News....
"The recent success of the criminal justice advocates can be traced back almost entirely to Koch-backed efforts in red states like Texas and Georgia to reduce nonviolent drug sentences and release prisoners into less expensive community outreach programs and supervised probation. That effort linked libertarians, evangelicals and social justice progressives....
"In Washington, progressive lawmakers who had pushed for changes to the criminal justice system as it relates to the drug war for years found themselves with Republican allies as the libertarian wing of the Tea Party movement took power. Those Republicans quickly became the most vocal supporters of criminal justice legislation on Capitol Hill, joining with progressive Democrats to support bills aimed at eliminating mandatory minimum sentences and other priorities....
"The two sides formally combined their national efforts after Republicans won the Senate in 2014. Criminal justice was on the short list of agenda items the White House said could be possible in the new political reality, and it wasn’t long before the Kochs and CAP linked up to to create the high-profile Coalition For Public Safety, which promised to pour millions into a push to pass new criminal justice laws.
"Koch-funded advocates and their allies are a regular part of the coalition to make bipartisan criminal justice legislation happen before the end of the year. That group has the support of the White House, which has regularly hosted meetings between criminal justice advocates, including Koch-backed advocates, and administration officials".
Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/democrats-fight-with-each-other-over-the-kochs
'via Blog this'
July 17, 2015 - "Democrats are defending the efforts of the Koch brothers. And they’re defending the Kochs from attacks by other Democrats, who say the brothers’ criminal justice work is just a 'scam'....
"It’s a weird turn of events, but the unsurprising conclusion to the drug war collision course: progressives and libertarians, led by the Kochs, agree that the tough-on-crime policies of the 1980s and ’90s need to change, from mandatory-minimum sentencing to the use of criminal records in hiring. President Obama even praised the Kochs this week, a week in which he commuted the life sentences of 46 drug offenders and advocates say big changes could really be coming....
"Beyond the politics, many progressive-leaning advocates inside the criminal justice movement actually don’t think the Koch brothers ... are trying to pull a fast one with their support for the cause. Mark Holden, Koch Industries’ general counsel, can talk for hours about the minutiae of the criminal justice system and the ways it should be changed to be fairer to the poor and minorities. Liberal advocates often single him out as a powerful ally.
"Outside of the legislative fight, the Kochs have won praise from the left for instituting changes within Koch-owned companies [that] advocates on the left have long said would mitigate the impact a conviction could have on felons long after they leave prison. In April, Koch Industries stopped asking prospective employees about their criminal history on applications.... Holden said the banning the box was an effort to make hiring at Koch Industries a model. 'We removed the box from our application because we are focused on finding the best candidates for employment based on who they are now and their entire person,' he told BuzzFeed News....
"The recent success of the criminal justice advocates can be traced back almost entirely to Koch-backed efforts in red states like Texas and Georgia to reduce nonviolent drug sentences and release prisoners into less expensive community outreach programs and supervised probation. That effort linked libertarians, evangelicals and social justice progressives....
"In Washington, progressive lawmakers who had pushed for changes to the criminal justice system as it relates to the drug war for years found themselves with Republican allies as the libertarian wing of the Tea Party movement took power. Those Republicans quickly became the most vocal supporters of criminal justice legislation on Capitol Hill, joining with progressive Democrats to support bills aimed at eliminating mandatory minimum sentences and other priorities....
"The two sides formally combined their national efforts after Republicans won the Senate in 2014. Criminal justice was on the short list of agenda items the White House said could be possible in the new political reality, and it wasn’t long before the Kochs and CAP linked up to to create the high-profile Coalition For Public Safety, which promised to pour millions into a push to pass new criminal justice laws.
"Koch-funded advocates and their allies are a regular part of the coalition to make bipartisan criminal justice legislation happen before the end of the year. That group has the support of the White House, which has regularly hosted meetings between criminal justice advocates, including Koch-backed advocates, and administration officials".
Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/democrats-fight-with-each-other-over-the-kochs
'via Blog this'
