Issue Position: Criminal Justice Reform

Issue Position

Growing up in Rocky Mount North Carolina in the time of Jim Crow, I have seen first hand how far we have come as a society on issues of race. Unfortunately, in recent years we have been reminded how far we still have to go before we realize Dr. King's dream for America. I am proud of our young people today who are speaking out against the painful remnants of institutional racism and injustice that still exist today. Congress must join them and step up to change how law enforcement interacts with the community.

*Allocate funds for police body cameras and make them mandatory. Body cameras need to be as much a part of an officers' uniform as their badge. Congress needs to mandate the use of and allocate the funds necessary for local and state governments to expand the use of body cameras in their jurisdictions.

*Establish a "National Use of Force Standard" to govern police interactions with the communities they serve. Congress should outline standards, norms and procedures for police interactions with the community. These standards must emphasize conflict de-escalation rather than the use of force. It should include guidelines for crowd control during large demonstrations, the appropriate use of military grade equipment and vehicles, racial profiling, gender discrimination and approaching suspects with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities.[1]

*Establish a national record of instances of lethal police interaction with communities. Currently, we don't know the scale of the problem because we have no record of it. The Justice Department should be informed every time police action results in the death or serious injury of an individual. The DoJ can then investigate if the police action violated any civil rights and complied with the National Use of Force standards.

*Ban Private Prisons. Private prisons have an inherent interest in seeing more Americans go to jail. This is the perverse result of the prison-industrial complex. In order to make meaningful progress to end mass incarceration, we must remove the private prisons that benefit financially from having more Americans go to jail.

*End the War on Drugs. Since the inception of the federal War on Drugs the number of people in prison for nonviolent drug related offenses has skyrocketed. We are now at the point where half of federal prisoners are in jail for drug related offenses[2]The United States currently houses 25% of the world's imprisoned individuals, making us the largest jailer in the world.[3] Enforcing drug laws has fallen particularly hard on minorities where nearly two-thirds of prisoners in jail for drug related offenses are racial or ethnic minorities. As a result, more than 60% of America's prison population consists of racial or ethnic minorities[4]. The War on Drugs has failed miserably and in the process has destroyed generations of whole communities. It's time for a new approach that stresses drug treatment and early intervention as opposed to imprisonment.

*Expand community policing. In many neighborhoods, citizens have an antagonistic relationship with law enforcement. In order to heal the rift, the federal government should incentivize law enforcement agencies to adopt policies and programs that encourage community involvement in maintaining public safety. People need to feel that they are on the same side as the police and it's up to all of us to bridge that gap.

*Halt the sale of military grade equipment to local police forces. The University of Maryland at College Park police force is armed to the teeth[5]. Possessing military grade firearms and armored personnel carriers, UMD looks like it's preparing to invade our homes rather than to educate our kids. It's a powder keg waiting for a spark. Sadly, UMD is not an exception to the rule. Police forces across the nation are over armed for basic policing tasks. Congress needs to stop the militarization of local police with surplus military equipment.

*Restore funds cut from Reentry Programs. Congress eliminated millions in funding for The Second Chance Act aimed at bolstering reentry programs that eased inmates' transition back to civilian life[6]. The result has been catastrophic with recidivism rates as high 40% nationally[7]. We need to reverse this trend so that ex-offenders may reintegrate themselves to become productive, tax-paying citizens.

*Expand Crisis Intervention Teams and require more training for when officers interact with the mentally ill and intellectually disabled. In 2012, Robert Saylor, a 26 year old Maryland resident with Downs Syndrome died in police custody. He died because the police officers on the scene were not properly trained to address the mentally ill or intellectually/developmentally disabled people. The greatest tragedy of Mr. Saylor's death was that it could have been prevented. More can be done at the federal level to fund crisis intervention teams and police training to make sure this never happens again.

*Give ex-offenders the right to vote. Voting is a fundamental right and an opportunity for citizens to exercise their voice in the affairs governing their everyday lives. There is no constitutional prohibition on allowing ex-offenders to cast a ballot. Rehabilitation is supposed to be one of the primary goals of imprisonment. If an individual is deemed rehabilitated to the point to safely reenter society, they should be allowed to fully contribute to our society. Giving ex-offenders voting rights would be positive reinforcement to rejoin civilian life and contribute to our vibrant democracy.

*End mandatory minimum sentencing. Sentencing guidelines for drug and nonviolent offenders are arbitrary and do not contribute to public safety. Instead, they overly burden federal and state budgets. The expected savings from such reforms could be better spent investing in education, drug treatment programs and prevention.

*Rewrite civil forfeiture laws. Police departments across America are abusing the right to seize money from people who are often not charged with a crime. Since 2001, over $2.5 billion has been seized by police during highway stops and from residences. [8] Many departments use seized cash to purchase lavish amenities. Even worse, federal agencies have benefited from the program. Unrestrained civil forfeiture must stop. Congress has no choice but to weigh in and end corrupt police practices by passing laws limiting forfeiture to cases where appropriate.

Source