Real Criminal Justice Reform

Our criminal justice system should treat everyone fairly—no matter their net worth or the color of their skin. It should keep us safe, without wasting billions of taxpayer dollars incarcerating people for low-level offenses. And it should help people exiting the system rejoin their communities, by providing job-training and mental health treatment and by restoring their right to vote.

As a former public school teacher who saw many of my students’ lives destroyed by our criminal justice system, I will fight to break the school-to-prison pipeline. Schools should not need to rely on police officers to discipline students. They should have the resources they need to provide counseling, medical, and mental health services to every child.

I am also wholeheartedly in favor of decriminalizing marijuana. I am outraged by how the overzealous prosecution of those possessing even small amounts has disproportionately impacted people of color. We should expunge criminal records of nonviolent possession charges and invest in the communities most hurt by unjust, unequal, and unnecessary enforcement.

Our jails and prisons are ill-equipped to provide people with treatments and support they need, leaving too many incarcerated people in crisis or unable to reenter their communities. We should also expand mental health and drug courts, which allow people to enroll in long-term treatment and recovery programs instead of receiving jail sentences. And we should provide mental health and addiction screenings for everyone who comes in contact with the justice system so that we can identify treatment needs and opportunities for rehabilitation.