NEW YORK -- Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday issued an impassioned call for overhauling an "out of balance" criminal-justice system, using her first major public-policy address as a presidential candidate to reflect on the recent unrest in Baltimore and push for an end to "the era of mass incarceration."
Speaking at an urban policy forum at Columbia University, Clinton recounted the recent killings of unarmed black men by white police officers, arguing that the chaos and rioting sparked by their deaths should prompt a national reckoning over long-standing economic and racial inequalities.
"The patterns have become unmistakable and undeniable," she said. "We have to come to terms with some hard truths about race and justice in America."
Clinton spoke days after violence and protests swept through the streets of Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who suffered a spinal-cord injury while in police custody.
With her remarks, she joined a bipartisan group of politicians who are rejecting the tough-on-crime policies of the 1980s and 1990s -- including those trumpeted as a major achievement by the administration of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
Nicholas Turner, president of the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit focused on crime policy, said the belief in those years that longer sentences would mean more safety is being set aside.
"What Clinton talks about today reflects a repudiation of that thinking," he said. "On some level, everyone has evolved."
The emerging presidential field has been tested by the wave of anger that swept the streets of Baltimore. With smoke still rising from the city's burnt buildings, many have struggled to calibrate their political response.
Martin O'Malley, a former Maryland governor and Baltimore mayor who might challenge Clinton for the Democratic nomination, returned from Europe to walk the streets of his city.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, commenting during a visit to Puerto Rico, called both for an investigation into Gray's death and "a commitment to the rule of law."
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has pushed for sentencing changes in Congress, blamed the unrest on a "breakdown of the family structure" while joking that he was glad a train he was traveling on through downtown Baltimore "didn't stop."
Clinton proposed body cameras for all police departments, alternative punishments for low-level offenders, and more money for mental-health and drug-treatment programs.
She tied the problem to her broader campaign theme of inequality, citing "cycles of poverty and despair" in inner-city neighborhoods. "We need a true national debate about how to reduce our prison population," she said. "We don't want to create another incarceration generation."
In December, President Barack Obama asked Congress for $263 million for police body cameras and additional law enforcement training -- a request Congress has yet to act on.
Still, Clinton praised the bipartisan coalition forming on the issue, specifically mentioning Paul's work with New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.
"It is rare to see Democrats and Republicans agree on anything today," she said. "But we're beginning to agree on this: We need to restore balance to our criminal-justice system."
Paul put out a campaign statement criticizing Clinton for "emulating" his proposals and "trying to undo some of the harm inflicted" by her husband's administration.
After decades of politicians vowing to get tougher on crime, then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton ran for president with a promise to tackle doubling homicide rates, a pledge he fulfilled in 1994 with the passage of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act.
That law, particularly a Republican-backed provision, resulted in longer prison terms and more police on the street.
Information for this article was contributed by Ken Thomas of The Associated Press.
A Section on 04/30/2015