Sanders And Warren Just Released the Most Decarceral Criminal Justice Platforms Ever

( Warren 2020 )


The 2020 presidential candidates recently unveiled national criminal justice agendas that reimagine public safety and punishment.

Within a few days of each other, Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren released sweeping criminal justice platforms that rethink public safety and punishment after decades of harmful mass incarceration policy.

The Appeal talked to a number of experts and advocates who say the plans are the most decarceral criminal justice platforms to enter presidential politics. There’s concern these far-reaching progressive proposals could carry political costs for Sanders or Warren in the general election. Still, many feel that their plans represent a historic moment in more than 30 years of the reform movement.

In a plan released Tuesday, Warren pledged to repeal the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, “tough on crime” legislation that catalyzed mass incarceration in America. Released just days before Warren’s, the Sanders plan strikes a similar tone in its pledge to cut the prison population in half by ending mandatory minimum sentencing and “three strikes laws” at the federal level, as well as expanding the use of presidential clemency.

Both plans also call for the legalization of marijuana, and an end to cash bail and the death penalty.

https://theappeal.org/sanders-and-warren-just-released-the-most-decarceral-criminal-justice-platforms-ever/