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Watch the VICE HBO documentary on America's incarceration system, featuring President Barack Obama's first-ever visit to a federal prison:
Inmates want a comprehensive overhaul of the system, not a handful of changes that make for flashy headlines."I don't get how a dude who's doing a mandatory-minimum ten-year sentence can't get his sentence reduced to five years, but a guy doing 20 years can get his reduced to 15 years," said federal inmate Augustine Abascal. "And what about the dudes who are doing mandatory 30-year sentences? If life sentences are going to go down to 25 years, how are they [Congress] just gonna leave the guys with 30 years doing more time than the guys who had life?"This is shit is all fucked up, homie." he added.With a handful of bills that would begin to correct Reagan-era mandatory-minimum sentencing laws percolating on Capitol Hill, it appears that reform is indeed on the way. And to be sure, more than a few prisoners in the federal system are overjoyed at lawmakers finally paying attention to their plight. But the glacial pace of action in Washington—coupled with fact that deserving inmates will almost certainly be left out of any sentencing overhaul—makes it hard for American prisoners to get too excited about changing the system.Follow Robert Rosso on Twitter.