Bernie Sanders, who was criticized by liberal activists in 2016 for not focusing more on racial injustice, is unveiling a sweeping plan on Sunday aimed at slashing the country’s prison population in half and ridding the criminal justice system of “institutional racism and corporate profiteering.”
The ambitious, nearly 6,000-word proposal seeks to remake the nation’s prisons, police departments, courts, drug laws and treatment of people who have mental illnesses with a full-throated progressive agenda. Sanders’ left-wing allies have argued he has “evolved” in recent years on the issue of criminal justice.
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The plan calls for banning cash bail, solitary confinement and civil asset forfeiture, which allows law enforcement officials to seize people’s homes and other property even if they are not convicted of a crime. The plan also looks to legalize marijuana and abolish the death penalty, a practice Sanders has long opposed.
The Vermont senator would legalize “safe injection sites” where people can use illegal drugs under medical supervision, a controversial practice that has been shown in several studies to curb the number of overdose deaths.
Sanders’ proposal promises the attorney general will investigate every time a person is killed in police custody. He would also establish a “Prisoner Bill of Rights,” create a “civilian corps of unarmed first responders” to deal with mental health emergencies, and boost funding for public defenders.
Source: Sanders unveils proposal for massive overhaul of criminal justice system
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