Hutchinson, Earl. “Obama Took Big Steps Toward Ending Grotesque Drug Sentencing Laws.” La Prensa San Diego 17 July 2015. Ethnic NewsWatch. Web. 3 August 2016.
In the Barack Obama interview with VICE news on March 2015, Barack Obama confronts the controversial topic of criminalization. Obama addresses the injustice in criminalization saying that people shouldn’t be punished for the rest of their lives for possessing marijuana, and stating that the criminal justice system is skewed to crack down the people of color and, nonviolent drug offenders such as the people of color. In newspaper published on July17, 2015 by La Prensa San Diego, Earl Hutchinson the author describes Obama’s actions to help those who have been incarcerated for pot and to end drug sentencing laws. This article clearly relates to President Obamas issues addressed on VICE News, president Obama wants to decriminalize. From La Prensa San Diego newspaper found on the database we can learn that the speaker is bias towards decriminalizing, and he is addressing this issue to all U.S residents, more specifically to African Americans. This source addresses the discrimination in arresting for marijuana that Obama describes in his speech, “They continue to wreak dire havoc in mostly poor black communities…”
Earl Hutchinson is the author of the source “Obama Took Big Steps toward Ending Grotesque Drug Sentencing Laws”. He is an author and political analyst, he also contributes to the news on MSNBC. Hutchinson is an editor of New America Media and weekly co-host at the Al Sharpton Show on American Urban Radio Network, he is host at other radio stations as well. The publisher is La Prensa San Diego, a bilingual newspaper in San Diego California and the largest Mexican American newspaper of general circulation in San Diego. It has been publishing continuously for 33 years, and it displays a Hispanic perspective view. The text in this case is written in English, and it is biased on decriminalizing, the text is clear and written in a respectful professional way. The speaker uses historical facts to help emphasize his point of view, Hutchinson begins the newspaper with flashbacking to Christmas 2013, the day in which president Obama granted clemency to eight low level drug offenders. Then he addresses the recent action Obama took to grant clemency to 46 offenders. We can conclude that the author has knowledge on President Obamas actions to decriminalize, he is most likely is well educated on issues regarding marijuana. The newspaper seems very knowledgeable of the community, considering the racial disparity in the communities and showing sympathy to those who are incarcerated and to poor black communities.
This electronic newspaper focuses decriminalization and the reasons why decriminalizing would be the best solution to end racial disparity. Hutchinson begins the source by describing President Obamas actions to help those who have been arrested for pot, he describes the Presidents clemency to eight individuals back in 2013, and then he describes his recent clemency to now forty-six offenders in which he states “Their prospects of getting out without the President’s intervention would have been slim to none.” (Hutchinson,1)The speaker then describes the corruption of the criminal justice system as mentioned by President Obama, describing that more than half of crack users are white but yet blacks make up the majority of those sentenced. The speaker is clearly arguing against the criminalization of pot, “Obama’s actions are heart lifting news for the offenders and their families and its great news for a nation that has acquiesced far too long in the thoroughly debunked notion that the nation can incarcerate its way out of the drug morass. Yet as Obama certainly knows there’s still much to be done to dig out of it.” (Hutchinson,1)