Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Republican and Democratic platforms differ on gun control, other criminal justice issues

The Democratic National Convention adopted the party platform yesterday, suggesting additional gun control by a call for "an honest, open national conversation about firearms." The Republican platform opposes any new gun control.

Ted Gest of The Crime Report reports the Democratic platform proposes new funding to "help keep cops on the street and support our police, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians," something they say Republicans and Mitt Romney "have opposed and even ridiculed."

The parties agree on prisoner rehabilitation, with Democrats touting the Obama administration's the creation of the Federal Interagency Reentry Council in 2011 to address prisoner re-entry. The party also "made a point of backing work by government at all levels to 'combat and prevent drug crime and drug and alcohol abuse,'" Gest reports. It's worth noting that party nominees do not formally embrace these platforms. (Read more)

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