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Bill Clinton Admits 1994 Crime Bill Helped Fuel Mass Incarceration

HeadlineMay 11, 2015

Former President Bill Clinton has acknowledged policies under his watch have led to over-incarceration. Speaking to CNN, Clinton admitted faults with his 1994 crime bill, which imposed harsher sentences for drug offenses and expanded the number of prisons and police.

Bill Clinton: “The problem is, the way it was written and implemented, we cast too wide a net. We have too many people in prison. And we wound up putting so many people in prison that there wasn’t enough money left to educate them, train them for new jobs and increase the chances when they came out so they could live productive lives. I strongly support what [Hillary Clinton] is doing, and I think any policy that was adopted when I was president in federal law that contributed to it should be changed.”

Bill Clinton’s comments come after Hillary Clinton criticized mass incarceration and called for drug sentencing reform in a speech last month, her first major address since announcing her presidential campaign.

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