Say What? Fox News Host Says High Sentencing Rates in 1990s Benefited Black Neighborhoods
Fox News host Tucker Carlson said during Sunday's episode of Fox & Friends that high sentencing for drug-related crimes in the 1990s benefited Black neighborhoods.Â
"I think it's kind of a wide consensus that the Clinton administration went a little overboard in sentencing for sure," said Carlson as he interviewed Ashley Bell of the 20/20 group that is partnering with law enforcement and mayors in hopes to better community and police relations.
"On the other hand the crime rate went way down and everyone benefited from that, particularly in Black neighborhoods which has always had the highest crime rates and that was good for people in those neighborhoods, and in every neighborhood," Carlson continued.Â
Bell responded by telling Carlson that the individuals who have non-violent felonies on their record are finding it difficult to get work.
"When you talk about folks who have felonies who were convicted 10, 20 years ago of non-violent felonies who live in states like Georgia with a great Republican governor who is bringing jobs to our state, they canât sign up for those jobs because they have felonies that are decades old that have nothing to do with the jobs they are trying to apply for."
President Obama in July spoke out for a fairer justice system that would help non-violent offenders reduce their sentences and help them transition back into the real world. He announced that he would be reducing the sentences for 46 non-violent offenders whose convictions were drug-related.
Fourteen of these individuals were serving life in prison. "When we look at non-violent offenders, most of them are growing up in environments in which drug traffic is common; where many of their family members may have been involved in the drug trade," Obama explained.
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