Democrats seek to improve public safety by reforming the criminal justice system to focus on implementing programs that prevent criminal activity, divert people from crime, prosecution, and detention; programs that provide effective treatment of underlying drug addiction and mental illness; and, programs that rehabilitate the accused and the detained. We seek a criminal justice system that also focuses on ending the influence of white supremacy, the ideology that has led to mass incarceration, the “new Jim Crow”;  on establishing community-based alternatives to the inhumane prison-industrial complex; and, on prioritizing the holistic healing of crime victims and perpetrators through restorative justice practices. Democrats strongly believe that all people who live and work in places of detention have the right to a safe and healthy environment.

We Affirm

1. There is something profoundly unjust when almost a quarter of the world’s prison population is in the U.S., even though our country has less than five percent of the world’s population; and

2. The private, for-profit prison industry is predatory, inhumane, and exploits racist criminal justice policies and should be eliminated; and

3. Instead of investing in more jails and incarceration, we need to invest more in jobs and education for the incarcerated and for the average citizen, and end the school-to-prison pipeline; and

4. The criminal justice system has failed to provide adequate mental health services, the effective treatment of drug addiction, victim assistance, rehabilitation, and re-entry services; and

5. The “war on drugs” has led to the imprisonment of millions of Americans, disproportionately people of color, without reducing drug use; and

6. That the criminalization of drug addiction, reflected in the "opioid crisis" brought about by a pharmaceutical company and its collaborators, who preyed on the sick and suffering for unconscionable monetary gain, causes patients who become addicted and their families to be unjustifiably caught up in the criminal justice system; and

7. That because 95% of all prisoners are eventually released, policies that provide for prisoner reentry into society and that prevent and reduce collateral consequences based on criminal history should be required to reduce recidivism; and

8. A person’s financial situation, appearance, age, race, address, or ethnicity should not determine the type of sentencing, including if they go to jail or for how long; and

9. That the constitutional right of all defendants to a full and fair trial requires sufficient funding, including equitable and full financial funding of the offices of public defenders and district attorneys; as well as quality performance standards and oversight to ensure effective defense and ethical prosecution in all cases; and

10. Adequate training of law enforcement officers to fulfill their duties is paramount and we must increase mandatory annual training to include more emphasis on cultural sensitivity, anti-racism, and techniques for de-escalation; and

11. Commendation and support of law enforcement officers who inspire trust in the community by adhering to best practices and employing effective de-escalation strategies; and

12. The diversity of administrators of the criminal justice system should be representative of the community; and

13. High-quality healthcare service should be provided to those held in detention; and

14. Public health orders should be followed and enforced at all incarceration facilities to ensure the health of all residing and working in those facilities; and

15. All courts be adequately funded to implement prompt and timely trial dates as required by the U.S. Constitution.

    We Will

1. Encourage the federal government to remove “marijuana” from the list of Schedule I federally controlled substances and to appropriately regulate cannabis, providing a reasonable pathway for future legalization; and

2. Continue to pursue the expungement of criminal records for those with solely nonviolent, personal cannabis use and possession charges; and

3. Support the use of DNA testing and timely rape kit processing to protect the wrongfully accused, set free the wrongfully convicted, and prosecute the perpetrators; and

4. Fully fund programs for victims of sexual assault, especially in rural and tribal communities; and

5. Advocate for sufficient funding to hire and train more competent public defenders to ensure every case can bev thoroughly represented and processed in a timely manner; and

6. End mandatory minimum sentences; and

7. Abolish the death penalty and solitary confinement, which are cruel and unusual forms of punishment; and

8. Eliminate life without possibility of parole for youthful offenders; and

9. End policies based on racial profiling that target individuals solely on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin, which is un-American and counterproductive; and

10. Prevent conflicts of interest by creating an independent oversight process for the investigation of crimes involving law enforcement, including designating a chief District Attorney position and/or civilian oversight boards chartered with investigative authority; and

11. Remove barriers to help formerly incarcerated individuals successfully re-enter society by expanding re-entry programs and preventing employment discrimination based on criminal history ; and

12. Guarantee the voting rights of the incarcerated upon release from custody; and

13. Strengthen and adequately fund diversion and treatment programs as alternatives to arrest and incarceration; and

14. Address all dental and health care needs of arrested and incarcerated girls and women, including pregnancy-related care; and

15. Advocate for the strengthening and adequate funding of diversion and treatment programs as alternatives to arrest and incarceration, specifically including measures to:

    • Ensure the accessibility of the full menu of treatment courts (drug, alcohol, behavioral health or mental health courts) throughout the state; and

    • Revise the current standards for treatment courts and the courts’ Department of Therapeutic Justice so that their programs provide integrated treatment for those with multiple diagnoses; and

    • Expand mental health and addiction treatment facilities as necessary to serve the needs of the participants in treatment court programs and, in general, to eliminate long waitlists that lead to lost opportunities and lives; and

    • Expand prison and jail facilities for the treatment of drug addiction and mental illness if incarceration cannot be avoided;

    • Employ science-based treatment approaches consisting of adequate treatment time and medication-assisted treatment as may be advisable, all in recognition that recovery is not a straight line and zero-tolerance is ineffective and counterproductive; and

16. Require that all incarcerated individuals, including youth, are afforded medical and mental health services, education, and substance-use recovery and rehabilitative services; and

17. Treat prosecution and defense equitably by providing balanced funding for District Attorney and Public Defender agencies; and

18. Create and adequately fund an Independent Wrongful Conviction Review Commission; and

19. Provide adequate mental health facilities and services to reduce the incarceration of the mentally ill; and

20. End the exploitation of prison labor programs by private industry; and

21. Promote expansion of legal aid services in rural communities; and

22. Demand all law enforcement personnel receive implicit-bias training, violence management, and mental health first aid beginning in the academy and continuing throughout their years of service; and

23. Demand minimum qualifications for Federal Judge Appointments; and

24. Support specialized courts that focus on unrepresented groups that need special expertise, such as those with home insecurity and those with mental illness; and

25. Use data- and evidence-based approaches to enact and evaluate criminal justice reform in lieu of anecdotes, testimonials, interviews, media reports, and stories; and

26. Re-evaluate the severity of punishments for drug-related crimes; and

27. Zealously protect the constitutional rights of defendants and victims of crime; and

28. Ensure better health care in places of detention; and

29. Demand full implementation of public health orders in all places for incarceration.

30. Demand the delivery of all dental and health care needs of arrested and incarcerated girls and women, including pregnancy-related care; and

31. Demand that all incarcerated individuals, including youth, be afforded medical and mental health services, education, and substance-use recovery and rehabilitative services; and

32. Demand that prosecution and defense be treated equitably by providing balanced funding for District Attorney and Public Defender agencies including attorney’s salaries; and

33. Advocate for the creation and adequate funding of an Independent Wrongful Conviction Review Commission; and

34. Demand the end of exploitative prison labor programs by private industry; and

35. Promote expansion of legal aid services in rural communities; and

36. Demand all law enforcement personnel receive implicit bias training, violence management, and mental health first aid beginning in the academy and continuing throughout their years of service; and

37. Demand minimum qualifications for Federal Judge Appointments; and

38. Support specialized courts that focus on unrepresented groups that need special expertise, such as those with home insecurity and those with mental illness; and

39. Demand the use of data- and evidence-based approaches to enact and evaluate criminal justice reform in lieu of anecdotes, testimonials, interviews, media reports, and stories; and

40. Demand the rigorous evaluation by local authorities of algorithms used to enact and evaluate criminal justice reform, whether they are based on simple scorecards, machine learning, or artificial intelligence methods; and

41. Advocate that the severity of punishments for drug-related crimes be re-evaluated; and

42. Demand that the constitutional rights of defendants and victims of crime be zealously defended; and

43. Demand full implementation of public health orders in all places of detention and incarceration; and

44. Demand the end of qualified immunity that currently protects perpetrators of gun violence and blocks victims of gun violence from obtaining justice.