Criminal Justice

The Committee on Criminal Justice seeks to: (1) eliminate harsh and unfair sentencing practices that are responsible for mass incarceration and racial disparities in the prison system, (2) support and seek to increase trust and public safety by advancing effective law enforcement practices, (3) fight for the restoration of the voting rights of formerly incarcerated people and the removal of barriers to employment, (4) elevate the voices of crime victims in order to identify and advance systemic breakdowns existing in the criminal justice system that perpetuate crime, (5) end the war on drugs for its disproportionate collateral consequences harm in communities of color, (6) the institution and availability of alternatives to incarceration, including education, employment, and mental health services, (7) eliminate zero tolerance policies implemented in our schools which are keeping children out of the classroom and putting them on a path from the schoolhouse to the jailhouse, (8) investigate programs implemented in local law enforcement agencies which derail them from their main purpose of safety and order, and (9) seek budget modifications in states where incarceration receives more funding than education.