Issue Position: Criminal Justice Reform

Issue Position

Our criminal justice system is broken. With one quarter of the world's prison population, the United States has by far the highest rate of incarceration on the planet, and the racial disparities are enormous. Black men are incarcerated at nearly five times the rate of white men, and double that of hispanic men. Our prisons have become expensive warehouses for nonviolent offenders with little prospect for rehabilitation. Over 40% of prisoners are incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses. When prisoners are released, 77% return, due to a lack of rehabilitation and post-incarceration opportunities. In addition, our jails are increasingly being used as a substitute for adequate mental health care.

Mary Gay has fought for criminal justice reform for decades. Mary Gay organized and coordinated training for hundreds of attorneys to screen and represent federal prisoners seeking to have their sentences commuted under the Obama administration's Clemency Project. Under her direct supervision, 29 prisoners were granted clemency by President Obama; one of them became the subject of a movie, The Sentence, to be released by HBO later this year. Her team is also currently prosecuting a class-action in South Carolina to improve prison system mental health services.

Mary Gay has seen how our criminal justice system is plagued with policies that disproportionately impact low-income communities and people of color. She will use her expertise to advance smart solutions to end the cycle of mass incarceration and transition to a criminal justice system focused on rehabilitation and reintegration into society. In Congress, Mary Gay will support policies including, but not limited to:

End Mandatory Sentencing

Mandatory minimum sentences have led to the warehousing of millions of nonviolent offenders, forcing judges to sentence nonviolent drug offenders to unreasonably long sentences. Despite bipartisan recognition of the unjustified social and economic costs of such policies, the Sessions' Department of Justice is implementing policies to return to these destructive policies. Mary Gay will support legislation to eliminate mandatory sentences and return sentencing discretion to judges.

Investing in Community Policing

Mary Gay has worked with the National Constitution Center, Constitution High School, and the Philadelphia Police Department in the development of a program that promotes dialogue between students of color and police to break down barriers and misconceptions. She believes we need to promote community policing models that encourage stronger community interaction with and oversight over the police, an end to for-profit policing, and a crackdown on federal programs that equip peace officers with weapons of war. In addition, Mary Gay will support legislation that funds bias and trauma-informed training for police officers and "ban the box" legislation, making it easier for ex-offenders to get jobs.

Abolish Private Prisons

Mary Gay has seen firsthand how privately owned prisons profit from human misery and structurally favor incarceration over rehabilitation. Mary Gay represented children in the "Kids for Cash" scandal in Luzerne County, in which corrupt judges sentenced children to a privately owned juvenile detention center in exchange for kickbacks from the prison's owners. She will fight efforts by the Trump administration to expand the use of private prisons. Mary Gay will work to abolish private prisons, including the privately managed George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Delaware County.

Abolish the Death Penalty

For the past 15 years, Mary Gay has coordinated pro bono representation of clients on death row with the ABA's Death Penalty Representation Project. She has supervised the representation of Daniel Dougherty, a Philadelphia man who was convicted of felony murder after his two children died in a house fire. The battle for Dougherty's life has been torturous, but he was granted a new trial last year after his team demonstrated that arson testimony at his initial trial was based upon "junk science". She also recently arranged representation for a South Dakota man sentenced to the death penalty after evidence of his sexual orientation was improperly admitted. Mary Gay is a longtime opponent of the death penalty and will work to abolish it nationally.

End Cash Bail

Debtors' prison still exists in this country, in the form of cash bail. Cash bail keeps people who are presumed innocent locked away until their trial simply because they cannot afford bail. In Congress, Mary Gay will support an end to cash bail in favor of bail decisions based on a defendant's danger to public safety.

End Civil Forfeiture

Civil forfeiture allows local police departments to seize cash and property from private citizens even if they have not been charged with or convicted of a crime. For more than a decade, Mary Gay has coordinated representation for Philadelphians victimized by abusive civil forfeiture proceedings, leading to a Supreme Court ruling strengthening the rights of people subject to forfeiture proceedings. Despite widespread criticism and abuse, the Sessions' Justice Department is increasing the use of civil forfeiture. Mary Gay will support legislation to ban civil forfeiture nationwide.

Encourage Reentry to Society

By five years after release from prison, 77% of former prisoners are rearrested, due to a lack of rehabilitation and post-incarceration opportunities. Our prison system focuses on punishment, rather than rehabilitation and reentry to society. We must immediately institute reforms that focus on rehabilitation and smooth the transition back into society for ex-prisoners. Mary Gay will support legislation that includes education, job training and placement, and mental health programs for prisoners.

Juvenile Justice Reform

Mary Gay has led work on multiple juvenile justice initiatives, including representing juveniles who were denied the right to counsel and unconstitutionally incarcerated in the Pennsylvania "Kids for Cash" scandal, and supporting Youth Court programs that focus on restorative justice and developmentally-appropriate re-sentencing for juvenile lifers. Despite a 2012 Supreme Court ruling, many states continue to sentence children to life in prison. Even worse, many states lock children up in solitary confinement for over 22 hours a day, causing severe psychological trauma. Mary Gay will support legislation to reform our criminal justice system to treat children in developmentally appropriate ways.

End the War on Drugs

For too long, addiction has been treated as a criminal and moral problem, rather than a medical one. More people are incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses in the United States than in the rest of the world. Mary Gay will support legislation that decriminalizes marijuana nationwide and keeps the federal government out of decisions by states to legalize marijuana. For more information on the opioid epidemic, see our Healthcare Policy.

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