O'Malley sees criminal justice reform as defining issue.
Prosecuting gun crimes and assaults as a young Baltimore lawyer in one of the city's most violent districts helped drive Martin O'Malley into public office.
Now the Democratic presidential contender hopes that resume, along with his time as the city's mayor and governor of Maryland, will convince Iowans he's the best candidate to reform the U.S. criminal justice system.
It's a system marked by high incarceration rates and increasing community mistrust of police and has gained attention leading up to the 2016 presidential election.
"We have two problems that are intertwined and distinguish us in a bad way from other nations," O'Malley said in a 40-minute one-on-one interview with The Des Moines Register Saturday. "One is that far more of our citizens lose their lives to violent crime than virtually any other advanced nation on the planet. And related to that is the fact that we incarcerate more of our citizens than any other nation on the planet, which seems counterintuitive for a free people."
Scaling back on mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes and boosting programs to help prepare prisoners to return home will be major parts of a policy proposal O'Malley's campaign plans to roll out soon. From his time in Baltimore and as Maryland's governor, O'Malley believes he has the most "on-the-ground experience" dealing with public safety issues of any presidential candidate, Democrat or Republican.
But O'Malley will be one of several candidates that Iowans who want changes to the system will have to choose from when they decide which candidate to support in the caucuses, said Guy Cook, a Des Moines lawyer and former assistant U.S. attorney.
"Federal sentencing has to be reformed," Cook said. "And everybody's talking about it."
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2015/07/26/martin-omalley-iowa-criminal-justice-reform/30708105/