John Edwards:

We must end America's disgraceful two criminal justice systems... I will reform sentencing rules to address punishment disparities for crimes involving crack and powder cocaine and review mandatory minimum sentences for first-time, nonviolent offenses. I support incarceration alternatives--like drug courts--for first-time, nonviolent offenders as well as re-entry programs that include drug treatment and education to help ex-offenders get back on track. After someone has paid their debt to society, I would reinstate their right to vote in federal elections.

Barack Obama:

I will recruit more public defenders ... by forgiving college and law school loans... I will review these mandatory minimum sentences to see where we can be smarter on crime and reduce the blind and counterproductive warehousing of nonviolent offenders... I will also eliminate the disparity between sentencing for crack and powder cocaine.

[Note that the Loan Forgiveness bill was signed into law by President Bush in late September, after passing the Senate in July and the House in May. It had been pending in Congress for years... it was a part of the 2002 Innocence Protection Act. The current version, S. 442 was introduced by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin in January, 2007. A hearing was held and favorable report issued on it in February, 2007. Obama became a co-sponsor in June, 2007, Hillary in July, 2007 and Joe Biden in Feb. 2007. It applies to those who become public defenders and prosecutors, offers reduced interest rates on federal school loans and allows complete forgiveness after 10 years of payments.]

Hillary Clinton:

In the United States, we have been too focused on enforcement and not focused enough on prevention and intervention which are--in the long run--very effective crime-fighting techniques. We must take a comprehensive approach that starts with providing children with a good education. That's why I have proposed early-childhood interventions, K-12 reforms and better access to college. And, as I outlined in my Youth Opportunity Agenda, I plan to increase funding for internships, mentoring and community-based programs for at-risk youth. We also must do more for people who go to prison, such as providing support to help them become economically independent once they are released, like vocational training and job-placement assistance.

More from Barack Obama:

As president, my first act on this issue will be the restoration of full funding for COPS (the Community Oriented Policing Services program). I also support reasonable, common-sense measures to limit the occurrence of gun violence that has taken the lives of too many Americans, and that has particularly ravaged Black communities.

These measures include closing the gun-show loophole and requiring mandatory background checks on purchasers at gun shows... I also believe that we have to make guns in this country childproof... I support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent. I believe that these weapons, such as AK-47s, belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets. These are also not weapons that are used by hunters, sportsmen, and sportswomen.

More from Edwards:

I will help financially-strapped areas invest in community policing that builds trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. We must focus on strategies that work and stop those that don't--like racial profiling. I will also reform probation and parole so that people coming out of prison get support from their community and those who commit crimes again are held accountable. With the number of African-American young men who are victims of violence or incarcerated, we simply cannot just build more prisons. We must do more.

More from Richardson:

One of every three African-American males born today can expect to go to prison at some point. It's a stunning statistic. This is an issue crying out for more action. We need a vastly improved public education system, so that our kids get off to the right start. We need an expansion of anti-gang programs. Substance abuse treatment is a critical part of the solution - drug-related crimes represent a huge percentage of those in prison. Our youth need alternatives and they need to believe in the possibility of better life, they need opportunities and they need role models. So in addition to policy action, as president I'd bring moral leadership on this issue. I am proud of my record fighting crime throughout my career... I also understand that part of fighting illegal activities is providing more legal opportunities to those who feel they have no choice but crime.

On the gang bills, opposed since 2005 by the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch and others, here's what Wayne McKenzie, a former prosecutor, and now Director of the Vera Institute’s Prosecution and Racial Justice Program had to say in an article by Brian Gilmore on the EbonyJet website about Feinstein's S. 456 that recently passed the Senate and is awaiting House action:

“The Gang Prevention, Intervention and Suppression Act,” as the title suggests, aggressively targets gangs, gang activity and crime, but in the process, targets juveniles of color, mainly African-Americans and Latinos. It is simple criminal justice work: many gang associated crimes will be federal crimes now so federal prosecutors with the full weight of Uncle Sam’s deep pockets, can start filling up adult federal prisons with African-American and Latino youth, who comprise a large number of gang members. It is the same formula that has been incredibly successful in filling up state and federal prisons during the failed War on Drugs.

The bill re-defines gangs broadly and vaguely and also makes the penalties for gang crimes and gang activity more severe than they are now. This includes life sentences in prison without parole for some crimes.

Of course, many states already have laws to deal with gang activity, but it is nearing election time, and the Democrats in Congress, who were too cowardly to stop the war in Iraq, and cannot deliver health care for some children living on the edge, have to deliver something to the people. This year’s political sacrifice: thousands of African-American and Latino youth in prison if the bill passes.

The U.S. Sentencing Commission recently reported that:

75 percent of those incarcerated because of the enactment of the bill into law will be African-American or Latino. This is consistent with most of the available statistics on this issue.

Gilmore's article notes:

Of the more than 2200 individuals in the world sentenced to life in prison without parole as a juvenile, all but 12 of these individuals are in U.S. prisons. No other country in the world thinks this is credible criminal justice policy.

To Obama's credit on that issue, he wasn't one of the 44 co-sponsors of the gang bill, a list that included Hillary and Biden and just about every other progressive Democrat. From what I could tell, it was passed by unanimous consent and there's no individual record on how or if he voted on it. More objections to the gang bills are accessible here.