Prisoners
Problem: We lock people up for punishment and profit
Our prison system costs us over $80 billion / year because 1/4th of the world’s prison population are in the US. The crime rates are about the same as European countries, but “Tough on Crime” laws incarcerate non-violent offenders and keep people in prison longer. Bernie Sanders’ criminal justice reform plan aims to cut the US prison population in half. Many of his ideas are listed below:
Don't punish and send so many people to prison
The purpose of incarceration should be to shield society from harmful people, and rehabilitate them to be functioning members of society. To fix this, we should:
Legalize, tax, and regulate all drugs, especially marijuana, and release everyone who was locked up for non-violent drug offenses. Almost half of all prisoners are there for drug offenses. By making drugs legal, we lift them out of the black market, which would collapse the dangerous drug cartels. That’s fine for marijuana, but what about the really bad stuff? Pharmaceutical companies lied about the highly addictive nature of opioids, which are killing 8 Americans every hour. Many addicted people don’t seek help because they are afraid of being heavily fined and going to prison. We must instead treat the underlying symptom and setup centers to rehabilitate people.
Give every cop a body cam. Body cams reduce the use of force incidents by 60 %. Additionally, in 2010 the NYPD paid $136 million on legal settlements for complaints, but body cams are shown to reduce complaints by 88 %. This policy would save lives and save cities millions in legal costs
The 3-strikes law puts you in jail for life if you break any law 3 times. The death penalty kills 4 % of innocent people. Get rid of them!
Judges should be allowed to throw away frivolous lawsuits, which will reduce the constant threat and fear of being sued.
Punish fairly, and treat people ethically while they're in prison
Prison shouldn’t be enjoyable, but it should be livable. The prison system does not do enough to prevent mental health problems and to rebuild broken people. Here’s what we can do:
Private prisons are incentivized to cut costs on health and living conditions and to keep their cells full, and do so by lobbying for stricter criminal laws. The two biggest prison corporations made $3.3 billion in 2012 from government payments for using prison laborers.
Re-evaluate mandatory minimum sentences to reflect what studies have shown to be effective.
By giving prisoners natural sunlight, private space, and space to cook their own foods as they do in Germany, we can improve people’s mental and physical health and reduce the rate of violence in prisons.
Keep people from going back to prison
This includes the right to vote and to leave prison one day per year to visit friends and families. By giving them the sense of societal contribution and connection, prisoners are likely to strive for the goal of re-integration early on. Ex-felons who vote are half as likely to re-offend.
Invest in vocational training and career development programs like in Norway. Shorter prison sentences can free up money to pay for such training, and improved prison conditions.
