Washington Post – Webb Sets His Sights On Prison Reform:
Somewhere along the meandering career path that led James Webb to the U.S. Senate, he found himself in the frigid interior of a Japanese prison.
A journalist at the time, he was working on an article about Ed Arnett, an American who had spent two years in Fuchu Prison for possession of marijuana. In a January 1984 Parade magazine piece, Webb described the harsh conditions imposed on Arnett, who had frostbite and sometimes labored in solitary confinement making paper bags.
“But, surprisingly, Arnett, home in Omaha, Neb., says he prefers Japan’s legal system to ours,” Webb wrote. “Why? ‘Because it’s fair,’ he said.”
This spring, Webb (D-Va.) plans to introduce legislation on a long-standing passion of his: reforming the U.S. prison system. Jails teem with young black men who later struggle to rejoin society, he says. Drug addicts and the mentally ill take up cells that would be better used for violent criminals. And politicians have failed to address this costly problem for fear of being labeled “soft on crime.”
It is a gamble for Webb, a fiery and cerebral Democrat from a staunchly law-and-order state. Virginia abolished parole in 1995, and it trails only Texas in the number of people it has executed. Moreover, as the country struggles with two wars overseas and an ailing economy, overflowing prisons are the last thing on many lawmakers’ minds.
But Webb has never been one to rely on polls or political indicators to guide his way. He seems instead to charge ahead on projects that he has decided are worthy of his time, regardless of how they play — or even whether they represent the priorities of the state he represents.
There are very few senators who have either the political clout or the courage to take on an unpopular issue like this. Webb has the latter in abundance – even when I disagree with him, I am sure that he is taking the position because he believes it’s truly right, not because he wants to be popular. (Think the intellectual opposite of, say, Evan Bayh.) I’m not sure he has the former. It’s safe to assume Obama has no interest in handling a touchy subject like this in his first term, not until he’s wrangled the economy and our foreign policy into manageable shape. Even the rosiest projections suggest that will take up his entire first term.
And speaking of 2012, I do wonder if Webb even plans on running for re-election. He writes about his ‘06 campaign in A Time to Fight with considerable distate, for obvious reasons – seeing yourself smeared as a pedophile with a big headline on Drudge = no fun. He is not at all far-left, but he doesn’t give off the “safe” moderate vibe of Mark Warner. The Republicans may see him as an easy target. If he decides not to run again – or if he does run and loses – it would be an immense disappointment to me, and a major loss for the Senate.
