Less incarceration
130 police chiefs, sheriffs and prosecutors joined the movement to end mass incarceration. They will be meeting with Barack Obama Thursday. “With momentum for criminal justice reform accelerating, we want to leave no doubt where the law enforcement community stands: We need less incarceration, not more, to keep all Americans safe,” the group wrote in a new report released today. Via The New York Times.
Strange bedfellows
Obama and the Koch brothers have united over the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act currently moving through Congress. Vox explains why.
The numbers
Trump’s No. 1, Carson’s No. 2, in the race to clinch the GOP nomination, according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll. For the GOP, this is the year of the outsider.
Party unity
Paul Ryan pledges to take the Speaker of the House job — but only if the GOP unites. “We have become the problem,” Ryan told a group of reporters. “If my colleagues entrust me to be the speaker, I want us to become the solution.” Via The New York Times.
Blame Jeb!
You can’t blame George W. for Jeb lagging behind Trump, writes Jennifer Rubin in The Washington Post. After all, a CNN poll shows 88 percent of Republicans have a favorable impression of the former president. Jeb can only blame himself for failing to take on Trump and “sell himself as the top dog.”
On fire
Black churches are being burned in the St. Louis area. Fire in the wake of Ferguson. Via The New York Times.
New Hampshire
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are neck and neck in New Hampshire, while Biden, the non-candidate candidate, is lagging behind. Via Politico.
Minds melding
Bashar al-Assad visits the Kremlin to speak with Vladimir Putin about the future of Syria. Via The New York Times.
Photo credit: Global Panorama, Creative Commons, Flickr.
