Obama allies with Koch brothers on criminal justice reform; his prison visit is presidential first
President Barack Obama and the conservative Koch brothers have found an issue on which they can agree: the need for criminal justice reform.
Last week Obama highlighted his push for reform by commuting the sentences of 46 drug offenders, outlining his ideas in a speech to the NAACP, and visiting a federal prison, the first such visit by a sitting president.
During his NAACP speech, Obama had good things to say about the Koch brothers, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports.
Criminal justice reform, Obama said, is creating some “unlikely bedfellows,” including the NAACP and the Koch brothers. The audience responded with laughter. “No, you’ve got to give them credit,” Obama said. You’ve got to call it like you see it.”
Charles and David Koch want to bring more fairness to the criminal justice system by revisiting how prosecutors bring cases, how defendants are represented and how sentences are decided, according to the Wall Street Journal. In an interview, Charles Koch told the newspaper that “the White House is cooperating with us rather than assuming everything we do is evil.”
The issue hit home for the Koch brothers in 2000 when Koch Petroleum Group and four of its employees faced a 97-count indictment claiming violations of environmental law. Charges were dropped against the employees, and Koch Petroleum reached a plea agreement on just one count.
The brothers realized, Koch official Mark Holden told the Wall Street Journal, that if a major company could be targeted, “what was happening to the average person on the street?” Holden is leading Koch Industries’ push for criminal justice reform.
Obama’s proposals, made during the NAACP speech include: ending or shortening mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug crimes, giving judges more discretion in nonviolent cases, investing in alternatives to prison, reducing prison overcrowding, offering more job training for inmates, reducing solitary confinement, and linking former inmates with employers.
After his prison visit in Oklahoma, Obama said he could have ended up in prison if he didn’t have family and community support, report USA Today and the Washington Post.
“These are young people who made mistakes that aren’t that different from the mistakes I made and the mistakes that a lot of you guys made,” Obama said. “That’s what strikes me—there but for the grace of God.”