The politics of Baltimore

(image/video – full remarks: C-Span)

Hillary Clinton used the ongoing crisis in Baltimore to make the first significant policy speech of her campaign, delivering what the New York Times called “an impassioned plea to mend the nation’s racial fissures and overhaul an “out-of-balance” criminal justice system.”

“There is something profoundly wrong when African-American men are still far more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes and sentenced to longer prison terms than are meted out to their white counterparts,” Mrs. Clinton said in a forceful address Wednesday at Columbia University.

Frank Rich talks at New York magazine about the politics of Baltimore and why Hillary “needs to take a stand” while John Cassidy writes at The New Yorker about how the political agenda on policing and minorities is emerging.

Still, after the riots in Ferguson and Baltimore, it is surely encouraging to see the President and the leading Democratic candidate to replace him speaking so forcefully, and confronting the “lock ’em up” mentality that has dominated the public debate for so long. “I don’t want the discussion about criminal justice, smart policing, to be siloed, and to permit discussions and arguments and debates about it to only talk about that,” Clinton said. “The conversation needs to be much broader. Because that is a symptom, not a cause, of what ails us today.” In the next nineteen months, Clinton will give many speeches. But she might not speak a truer sentence than that last one.

Mrs Clinton’s pronouncements about condemning the “era of incarceration” were seen as distancing herself from elements of her husband’s legacy – in this case his 1994 Crime Bill. The Washington Post writes:

Hillary Clinton plans to unveil a detailed policy agenda on a variety of economic and other issues this summer, and progressive leaders said they are paying close attention to see where else she may deviate from her husband’s legacy.

So far, Clinton has made only vague statements about the most important domestic issues for Democrats, including the push to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. She also has not said definitely whether she supports expanding Social Security benefits, a top agenda item for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a favorite of the party’s liberal base.

Warren remains steadfast in saying she will not run. One progressive who is entering the race, however, is Vermont Sen Bernie Sanders, who is poised to officially announce his candidacy on Thursday. He told the AP:

“What we have seen is that while the average person is working longer hours for lower wages, we have seen a huge increase in income and wealth inequality, which is now reaching obscene levels…

“This is a rigged economy, which works for the rich and the powerful, and is not working for ordinary Americans. … You know, this country just does not belong to a handful of billionaires.”

Another as-yet-possible Democratic candidate, Martin O’Malley, came in for criticism from the creator of The Wire, David Simon, who called the city’s former Mayor “the stake through the heart of police procedure.” The Baltimore Sun also reports:

After cutting short an overseas trip this week to return to the city, O’Malley was heckled on Tuesday for the “zero tolerance” police strategy he adopted as mayor.

In 2005, more than 100,000 people were arrested in a city of 640,000. That led to a lawsuit that the city settled after O’Malley’s tenure for $870,000.

When O’Malley returned to the streets Wednesday to meet with Baltimore residents, many seemed genuinely glad for his presence. Some stopped to talk with him; others posed for photos as he helped distribute food at a Catholic church in Sandtown-Winchester.

In Baltimore itself, the city saw the second night of a mandatory curfew at 10pm, with the situation initially calmer than the previous evening.