The candidates were asked:
b) If elected President, what would you do to address the underfunding and understaffing that is endangering America’s federal prison correctional officers?
I'm pleased to see that Obama took the opportunity, even though not directly asked about the subject, to criticize our over-reliance on incarceration and to promise to reduce sentences for non-violent drug offenders. From his answer:
The pressures that have been placed on our nation’s correctional officers have been tremendous. I am committed to addressing the overcrowding of our nation’s prisons – which starts by properly funding the BOP’s budget. The
shortfall in BOP’s budget and the fact that correctional officer staffing hasn’t kept pace with the skyrocketing inmate population makes it harder for correctional officers to perform their jobs, to protect themselves from violence, and to ensure that riots and other violent outbreaks do not take place among inmates.
Moreover, we should also take steps to address the dramatic rise in incarceration that has occurred over the last two decades. It’s time for us to re-examine the wisdom of locking up some first-time, non-violent drug users for decades. These policies are a significant source of the overcrowding of our prison. As president, I
will work to reduce the blind and counterproductive warehousing of non-violent
offenders – individuals who often have mental health and substance abuse problems. I will give first-time, non-violent offenders the opportunity to serve their sentence, where appropriate, in the type of drug rehabilitation programs that have proven to work better than a prison term in changing bad behavior. And I will support Department of Justice programs that provide grants to state drug courts that supervise treatment programs, and will replicate those drug courts on the federal level.
By the way, Hillary answered:
b) As President, I will work to make sure that our federal prisons are adequately funded and staffed to ensure the safety and security of the correctional officers and the inmates. I believe that all Americans should be safe where they work and provided with support to fulfill the responsibilities of their job. I know that understaffing and underfunding of in the Federal Bureau of Prisons leaves correctional officers strained and stressed to meet the demands of their jobs. When I am President, I will make sure that the Federal Bureau of Prisons, as well as agencies and departments throughout our government, have properly staffed and funded.
In other words, while she also said during the campaign said we need to incarcerate fewer people and reverse some mandatory minimums, she stuck to the direct question asked. Obama's answer was better because he addressed a principal cause of the understaffing and underfunding problem -- we incarcerate too many people.
While McCain didn't answer the questionnaire, he probably supports more funding for prison guards. But I'm fairly confident he won't be promising to reverse our over-reliance on incarceration.
Advantage Obama, over McCain.
