Gov. Chris Christie accused President Barack Obama of trying to take credit for criminal justice reforms that New Jersey has put into place, as the Republican presidential contender worked to seize a few of the president’s limelight during a visit to the state Monday.
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Obama is also directing the Office of Personnel Management to adjust its rules concerning when employers should ask about an applicant’s criminal history, saying it should be done later during the hiring process, according to Reuters. As the Times report explained, “The name refers to the box that job applicants are sometimes required to check if they have been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor”.
Booker will be in attendance at the President’s announcement this afternoon in Newark, New Jersey, as well the city’s mayor, Ras Baraka.
Before the discussion, the Department of Justice announced the administration would provide funding to reduce homelessness among people involved in the justice system and provide $8 million to nine communities for formerly incarcerated adult education programs. “That’s bad not only for those individuals, it’s bad for our economy, and it’s bad for the communities that desperately need more role models who are gainfully employed”. And Dianne, a lot of talk about “banning the box”, what exactly does that mean?
“The ultimate goal is to make sure folks are law-abiding, self-sufficient, good citizens and everything we do should be designed toward that goal”, Obama said.
The focus on helping former prisoners readjust to the outside world is all the more timely with the decision last month by the U.S. Sentencing Commission to release about 6,000 federal prisoners earlier than expected under reduced penalties for drug offenses.
“We can’t dismiss people out of hand simply because of a mistake that they made in the past”, Mr Obama said.
It has been said that these measures will help former criminals reintegrate into society. While noting that “it is relevant to find out whether somebody has a criminal record”, the president said that record shouldn’t immediately disqualify a candidate.
“All of these criminal justice reforms, none of them are his”, Christie said.
“He has not done anything on criminal justice reform in seven years as president”, Christie said on Fox News, accusing Obama of inadequately supporting law enforcement.
In addition, he announced the creation of a national clearinghouse to help former inmates expunge or seal records, where possible, and a program to help public housing residents under the age of 25 do the same.
“I just think it’s really interesting that we have so many people from the Democratic Party and from the press, the editorial press, who say things are so bad here in New Jersey”.
Obama highlighted offender reentry programs Monday in New Jersey as part of a nationwide tour to build support for Congress to overhaul the criminal justice system. “And now, all of a sudden, he wants to come and take a victory lap at Integrity House?”
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At Integrity House, Obama met with a former inmate and staff at the residential facility.
