Obama Touts Plans To Help Prisoners Re-Enter Society

President Obama is touting his plan to help federal prisoners re-enter society.

The President visited a drug rehabilitation center in Newark, New Jersey and later said there has to be a better way. He argued that those who have served their time deserve a second chance at finding jobs and decent housing.

It's part of a broader effort by the President to reform the criminal justice system. He announced an executive action to "ban the box" on federal job applications that ask job applicants to cite criminal records.

A big part of Obama's plans calls for getting nonviolent drug offenders out of the overcrowded federal prison system. He said they are disproportionately Latino and African American.

The plans include millions of dollars of federal education grants for former inmates and revised guidelines on the use of arrest records when it comes to getting government assistance.

Obama also praised bipartisan efforts in Congress to pass criminal justice reforms. (Metro Networks Inc.)