Hillary Clinton calls for an end to an 'era of mass incarceration' in rousing speech

(Image credit: (Kevin Hagen/Getty Images))

published 29 April 2015

In her first major policy speech in the 2016 campaign, Hillary Clinton spoke to Columbia University about the recent death of Freddie Gray and the turmoil in Baltimore. "From Ferguson to Staten Island to Baltimore, the patterns have become unmistakable and undeniable," Clinton said, referring to the recent deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of the police.

"Not only as a mother and grandmother, but as a citizen, a human being, my heart breaks for these young men and their families," she said. "We have to come to terms with some hard truths about race and justice in America."

Clinton called for an overhaul of America's criminal justice system, making an impassioned case for more widespread use of police body cameras and urging alternative punishments for petty drug crimes. "We have allowed our criminal justice system to get out of balance," she said.