Rand Paul Calls to Keep Pushing Criminal Justice Reform

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is continuing to push criminal justice reform in both Kentucky and on the federal level. In an op-ed for Courier-Journal Sen. Paul commended Kentucky’s General Assembly for putting forth criminal justice reform bills in the past year and vowed to continue pushing for reform, even when many Republicans are not willing to do it.

“The unfortunate consequence of this type of system is an entire group of people facing almost insurmountable odds of ever rejoining society.  The injustices within our system are potentially sentencing an entire generation of those who committed youthful mistakes to a future without the opportunity for rehabilitation,” Paul wrote.

Paul has been critical of the criminal justice system and the War on Drugs since 2013, following a disastrous speech at Howard University. He has slammed the justice system as being unfair and for trapping people in poverty. He has introduced several bills on the federal level aimed at reform such as the REDEEM Act which “would restrict the use of juvenile solitary confinement, seal the federal criminal records of non-violent adult offenders, and allow for the expungement and sealing of criminal records of non-violent juveniles under certain circumstances.”

Criminal justice reform is one of the few areas of bipartisan cooperation in Congress. Paul and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) have both worked with Democrats in introducing bills; Lee is currently involved in a fight for one such bill in the Senate which would reduce mandatory minimum sentencing and result in lower levels of prison inmates.

Paul made criminal justice reform a main platform of both his presidential and senate campaigns. He has introduced bills which would give certain non-violent felons their voting rights back and end mandatory minimum sentencing. 

“We need to continue to push for these reforms if we want to make a difference in our communities and start solving problems at the source. In the end, it is my hope, that these – along with other reforms – will leave all of us with a brighter future for our commonwealth and our country,” Paul concluded.

Before ending his presidential campaign, Paul called for an end to the war on drugs.