Later, we will focus on yesterdays gop event in ames, iowa. Reaction to your comments of donald trump. We will begin with the effort this past week to reduce prison time for nonviolent offenders. Our phone lines are open and we went to hear from you. 202 7488000 if you support the efforts to ease mandatory prison sentences. If you oppose the idea, the number to call is 202 7488001. Finally for those of you that it had experience with the criminal justice system, heres the number to call. 202 7488002. As always you can send us a tweet or join us on social media and facebook or send us an email at journal cspan. Org. Good sunday morning and thank you for being with us. Many of you weighing in on our Facebook Page and the question were asking. These efforts to ease the mandatory prison sentences. The president , the First Time Ever a prison. He did so last thursday just outside of oklahoma city. From our Facebook Page that is this from kylie says cops are one step away from being a military force. For member when i was to protect and serve. Today cops feed the Prison Industrial Complex and there was a lot of money in it. From u. S. News this piece nervous put in place by the president. The president and a bipartisan alliance in congress say and possible 10 of these for various drug crimes should be reduced or laminated as a matter or eliminated as a matter of fairness. The association of u. S. Attorneys say elected officials to make the change. The president became the first sitting president to visit a federal prison saying it would threaten Public Safety besides legislation to allow judges greater discretion. That is a view of the president outside of oklahoma city. Here is a portion of what he had to say. [video clip] obama my administration has taken steps to reduce the federal prison population. I signed a bill reducing 101 sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine. [applause] i commuted the sentences of dozens of people that says under old drug laws that we recognize enough air unfair. And now i am committing dozens more. [applause] under the leadership of attorney general eric holder, i have continued with Loretta Lynch federal prosecutors to open call smart on crime. Which is refocusing efforts on the worst offenders, pursuing mandatory minimum sentencing 20 left austin less often than they did before. You do not how is have to charge the max. To be a good prosecutor he did be proportionate you need to be proportionate. It turns out that we are solving just as many cases. There are just as many police bargains and it is working. It is just we eliminated some of the excess. And something extra ordinary happened. For the first time in 40 years americas crime rate and incarceration rate both went down at the same time. That happened last year. Host the president addressing the naacp on tuesday, traveling to a prison on thursday. Part of a weeklong effort by the administration to ease mandatory prison sentences which is our focus of the first 40 minutes or so on washington journal. 202 7488000 if you support the idea. 202 7488001 for those of you who oppose. If you have had experience with the criminal justice system, if you have spent time in a federal prison, the number to call is 202 7488002. Christian science monitor also writing about this story in a bipartisan effort to make changes to the criminal justice system. The president has been calling on congress to move on reforms and surprisingly lawmakers are in step with the president. It even looks like Congress Move ahead with him in hopes of both chambers and parties will put reform legislation on the president s desk before the end of the year. The full story Available Online at csm. Com. Steve says it is past time. With you to help the people who are released to find work. Treating them as unemployable is a most is that. Bob allen has a point. This is one of the many faults of the criminal justice system. Make room for financial and political criminals. Another the best viewer sending this week letting criminal go free is like letting isis members of free reign of the country. What could possibly go wrong . Here is more of what Speaker John Boehner had to say earlier this afternoon this past week. [video clip] boehner we have a lot of people in prison that really do not need to be there. It is expensive. The house prisoners some of these people are in their under what i would call flimsy reasons. I think it is time that we review the process. I am looking forward to putting this recommendations on the floor. Host with that background, tell us what you think about these efforts. Much of the put in place in the 1980s and 1990s. Now lawmakers are working what is being called the safe justice act. It would increase use of sentencing alternatives and encourage judicial districts to operate mental veteran and other problems solving courts. It would prioritize prison space for the mama and career criminals. It would expand current time policies for more inmates to reduce the recidivism rate. It would interest mentalhealth and deescalation Training Programs of the prison staff, especially for this work working inside the prisons and for those inmates who are about to be released. We begin with thomas joining us on the phone. Caller guest good morning. My take is that mr. Obama neglected to mention the fact that his and mr. Holders the fact that the release convicted felons who were deported over five times one of which murdered kate steinle in san francisco. And another one murdered two Police Officers in northern california. He has misplaced his efforts. And one last question. Why is the white house refusing to lower the American Flag when five of our Service Members were just murdered by terrorists . Thank you. Host thank you for the call. Edwin has this point on her twitter page. Our country is built on sending people to prison. Reform is needed that would put a lot of enforcement people out of a job. Another story getting attention. Front page of the New York Times pickup and the investigation into bill cosby. Cosby detailed many affairs in testimony. The piece points out that he was not above seducing a young model by showing interest in her fathers cancer. The promised other woman his mentor ship and career advisor pushing them for sex acts and he tried to use financial sleightofhand to keep his wife from finding out about his serial philandering. Bill cut be admitted to all this and more over four days of intense questioning 10 years ago at a philadelphia hotel, where he defended himself in a deposition for a lawsuit filed by a young woman who accused him of drugging and molesting her. Even as mr. Cosby denied he was a sexual predator who assaulted many women he presented himself in deposition as an unapologetic cavalier playboy. Summoning his accommodation of fame, apparent concern, and powerful sedatives in exactly the pursuit of young women. That is this morning from the front page of the New York Times. On the prison of subject of prison sentencing, ginger, good morning. Caller i support president obama for the reform. We are incarcerating our people way too harshly and way too much. And for basically keeping people in prison complexes way too long. Host do you think judges would react positively or negatively to this proposal because it would give the more discretion . Caller positive. I think they would like to be able to use their discretion. Host thank you for the call for minnesota. Another viewer saying start locking up the gangsters, not the drugsters. 202 7488000 if you support white house and administrative efforts to ease mandatory prison sentences. 202 7488001 if you oppose and if you have had any expense but the criminal justice system, the number is 202 7488002. We welcome our listeners on cspan radio. The cover story of the New York Times focusing on Hillary Clinton. The once and future hillary. Covering her and the other four Democratic Candidates in cedar rapids iowa. Is on our website at www. Cspan. Org. The Weekly Standard why are these men smiling . Some harsh editorials this morning on the justannounced iran nuclear deal. Later this morning we will talk to two experts from the iaea on what is the process of investigating irans new clear capability and how is there a checkpoint to verify is the president said. First to marry from new york. Good morning. What you support the effort . Caller i believe there is an institutionalized slavery going on in the prison system. I also believe that there was a poet who wrote a line, auction blocks to cellblocks. We have 25 of the prisoners in the world. We have about 2. 5 of the population. I think this is egregious and when you cut down and do much more rehabilitation. And also one in three young black men under the age of 30 is in prison. There is something going on and we need to stop it. When you to stop the violent crime. Thank you. Host you use the phrase institutionalized slavery. What you mean by that . Caller basically they are using i cannot quote the exact place but it is might understanding there was a place in the midwest that had a factory that made airplane parts. They were unionized people making a decent living wage. They closed the factory and wouldnt you know it, after a short amount of time, the prison was making the same parts for they were paying . 25. Corporations are taking advantage of really cheap labor in this business system. I think it is basically slavery. Host you had another point . Caller no, that is it. Thank you. Host a lot of editorials, including this from the boston globe. The headline is behind the fight mandatory minimum sentences. Donna has this point. Prisons are for profit. It was losing jobs there . Host is been a week of remarkable photographs of pluto. Looking beyond food plato. After some striking images from 3 billion miles away the question is what is next for nasa. Here is one of those absolutely fascinating photographs of that pleasant that planet. Net is next on sunday morning. Your take. Caller good morning, steve. I did 48 months in the federal system for marijuana. A businessman most my life. That the sentencing guidelines have been enhanced three times over the last 20 years and each time they get harsher and harsher. I saw young people in there, 18 years old, doing 10 and 20 years for marijuana. People think you dont go to jail for marijuana. In the federal system they have life sentence for marijuana if you reach a certain amount. You can actually have a life sentence with no chance for parole for marijuana. Host for you personally, for years . Was the events . Caller possession of marijuana. Host how much . Caller several hundred pounds. But i still think the sentence was way too high. You learned your lesson real quick after the first year. You dont need to do numerous years. I had a u. S. Attorney tell me she was doing gods work putting the in jail. That is a quote. Host how are you doing today . Caller i am retired. I am almost 70. You will never forget. I couldve got probation and never done it again. They took my home. It was a family home. They confiscated it. I was finding credible amount of money. Fined incredible amounts of money. The previous caller talked about unicore. You make . 11 per hour. The system is so corrupt. I actually held the prison door open while other inmates to Computer Systems and put them in guards cars and drove away. Host are you still there . Ned . Caller did i lose you . Host glossy firmament. One last question. Haddad you recover after four years in prison get yourself back to a more normal life . Caller i had a wife and family visit by me that stood by me. I had a young daughter. I was lucky. I got out and so had the was left of business to provide together. I was luckier than most. They wont release you to your family right away. Everybody is released to what they call a federal Halfway House which is more slave labor. They force you to go to work, even if you might have your own business that can go back to work at. You cannot do that. You get half of your money to the Halfway House for six months. Host when did you get out of prison . When were you free . Caller i got up 20 years ago. Host thank you very much for sharing your story with us. Caller lets everybody get on board and get these sentences reduced. That is the crime. The sentencing is the crime. Host joining us from maine another viewer has this comment. The prisons should be filled with wall street banksters. Front page of the l a times. The story is called running dry. The diminishing Colorado River is a growing concern for farmers in yuma, arizona. Billions of people depend on its water millions of people depend on its water. Caller good morning. I support the president with this initiative. I worked on an economic the challenge region of virginia. I worked with presidency came out and had federal benefits reinstated. There is so much poverty and mental illness. I think also less reform the Prison Guards lets reform the Prison Guards. They have a high divorce rate, high alcohol and drug abuse just from working in the prisons. Amnesty international is reviewing a lot of these prisons because some of the guards actually cover up the cameras and then beat some of these prisoners up. There is a lot of abuses that should be looked at. And the severe penalties and sentencing for the poor compared to rich or wealthier people who have lawyers and can get off with these big corporate crimes. Im glad somebody will finally take a look at this. Host thats president of the National Association of assistant u. S. Attorneys has this essay and site usa today. Its the drug laws keeping our nation safe. Providing an opposing view to an editorial in usa today saying its time to change americas prison sentences. Now prosecutors want more leeway in new hope they will show the nitze and will back to doing what got them in trouble. Oh james from maryland. And never tease mandatory prison since his. What is your take on this . Caller i think it is not make a lot of logical sense to lock somebody up in a cell for years and then expect them to come out better than they were wanting when in. Host think you very much for the call . Bill in maine. You oppose this . Caller good morning. Listen. I cant tell you how much i oppose this. I dont know how these folks calling in and telling you. I am 74. I remember back when we used to have history books in this country. Should we have opposed the sins for al capone. Lucky with schiano . Meyer lansky . All those organized crime guys . Wearer of liberals. . The first thing you have to understand . Everybody in prison is innocent. Everybody is innocent. I had a guy call up from maine who said he at 400 pounds of pot. That is a lot of stuff to smoke. Was he a dealer . Lyndon johnson started the great society. I dont know how many billions and trillions of dollars we spent on four people poor people. Look at baltimore. For 10 years in the maryland was later and 20 years in congress, did not know they were poor people in the city of baltimore. Who was getting home . These politicians are just as bad. A criminal is a criminal is a criminal. You have this stuff coming across the border. Give illegal aliens coming across the border. Obama has chicken the chains on Law Enforcement. They want cops not to arrest people. What is america going to wake up and see what this animal from mexico did . He killed an innocent woman for fun. For no reason. Host let me step in with another part of the argument. We are not doing enough to rehabilitate inmates. What responsibility does the government have on that front . Caller the government, if you were in the military and you into prison for a crime in the military you had 20 years of hard labor. They do not worry about rehabilitating you. Theyre worried about you doing your crime. If you cant do the time, dont do the crime. Host bill from maine, thank for the call. There was an Organization Called the sentencing project which take a look as of the disparities in the criminal justice system. The likelihood of imprisonment is much higher rate among africanamerican men versus wightman. You can log on to sentencingproject. Org for more information. Nexus carry from brian, telik texas. Caller good morning. Host good morning. Caller good morning. Host we will try one more time. You were on the air. Caller good morning. Host ok. We will move on. Gary from cape girardeau, missouri. Caller how are you . Host fine, thank you. Caller i want to comment on the time thing. I have mustered back in 1972 with one joint. And i did a year and a half. And i think that is ridiculous. So im in full support of relaxing the sentencing on these things. Host why a year and a half . Did you have a previous offense . Caller no, no. Never been arrested. Never even had a traffic ticket. Host this is 1970 . Caller 1972. That is not that long ago but it is. What i am saying is the government does not understand what is going on. Host thank you for the call. This is a tweet from ricky says people complaining about absent fathers in the home are the same ones advocating draconianlongterm lockup. The population in florida is on the front page of the miami herald. Guards should keep their mouth shut when inmates are brutalized. Here is what happened when one told the truth. Also Available Online at the miami herald website. Defer page of the daily news. Cosbys secret confession. He admitted to graphic sex in his disposition. And trump is the toast after insulting mccain. Not a war hero. Cover story. Back to your calls on americas prison population. Is it time to ease mandatory minimums . Caller good morning. Ive got experience with the system. I never committed any crime. I had a boyfriend that i already had a restraining order on him. He came into my house. He got into my house and long story short, i shot him. I did not want him in there. He was not supposed to be there any can desperately violent when he was drinking. I spent 12 years and four months nine months for that 15yearold sentence. Host take a step back. When did this happen . Caller this habit in 1999. Host did you kill him . Caller i did. Host how many times did you shoot him . Caller once. Apparently i shot him on the