August 26, 2011 2:51PM # Nat Hentoff on Perry, Obama By [Tim Lynch](https://www.cato.org/people/tim-lynch) --- SHARE There has been increasing attention this week on Texas governor and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, as well as his book *Fed Up!* and his record in Texas. With respect to criminal justice, most of the talk concerns the number of [executions](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rick-perry-holds-the-record-on-executions/2011/08/17/gIQAMvNwYJ_story.html) on Perry’s watch. In a recent column, Cato senior fellow [Nat Hentoff](https://www.cato.org/people/nat-hentoff) notes that Perry has brought enlightening reforms to the [juvenile justice system](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=13558) in that state — the gist being more focus on concentrated rehabilitation instead of prison isolation — and that this aspect of Perry’s record ought to be part of the conversation. And where is Nat Hentoff on Mr. Obama and his record? > I don’t ask President Barack Obama for any change I can believe in, except to clear out his office and make room in the White House for a real president. That may be too harsh. Obama has made some mistakes, to be sure, but at least he ended the wars and has the government on a sound financial footing. Related posts [here](https://www.cato.org/rick-perrys-spending-record/) and [here](https://www.cato.org/rick-perry-serious-constitutionalist/). ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).