NEWARK, NEW JERSEY ¨C President Barack Obama announced new measures to smooth the integration of former criminals into society but his visit to New Jersey on Monday irked the state¡¯s governor, a struggling Republican presidential candidate.
Obama, a Democrat who has made criminal justice reform a priority of his final years in office, praised organizations in Newark for their efforts to help those who have served prison terms to reintegrate into civilian life.
¡°We¡¯ve got to make sure Americans who have paid their debt to society can earn their second chance,¡± Obama said in a speech at Rutgers University in Newark, a city of about 280,000 that has grappled for decades with poverty and high rates of violent crime.
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