EMPOWER PEOPLE THROUGH JUSTICE REFORM

It is long past time we address the problems with our criminal justice system. From Courts to police, to prisons, we need reforms in every area with one goal in mind, empower people, not the government. With less than five percent of the world’s population, we host roughly a quarter of its prison population. That is simply unacceptable in a nation that styles itself as the land of the free. The current system feeds a prison-industrial complex that leads to the militarization of our police, corruption in our prosecutors who have perverse incentives to push for longer sentences, the building of private prisons that value profit over rehabilitation, and a cycle of incarceration that breeds lowered earnings and poverty that leads to recidivism.

MY ADMINISTRATION WOULD:

• • End Federal mandatory minimum sentencing which ties the hands of judges and compels even some who are innocent to plead guilty to avoid the possibility of lengthy incarceration. A wealth of evidence demonstrates that mandatory minimums accelerate prison growth with no overall benefit to crime control. By legislatively mandating punishment, we have taken discretion out of the hands of judges and juries where they rightly belong.
  • End the prosecution of victimless crimes and instead place the focus of law enforcement on investigating and prosecuting crimes of violence, theft, fraud, or coercion.

END THE FAILED WAR ON DRUGS INDEFINITELY

As the failed War on Drugs drags into its fifth long decade, we can all see that the policies of strict prohibition and prison need to change. Just as with the Eighteenth Amendment and its prohibition of alcohol, the criminalization of drugs simply has not worked. The black markets it has created have increased violent crime, engendered police corruption, and contributed to the rise of cartels in places near, such as Mexico, and far, such as Afghanistan.  It’s time to end more than two generations of regressive, harmful, and unproductive drug policy and move America into a new chapter.

AS PRESIDENT:

• • Immediately act to remove all federal laws criminalizing cannabis and end burdensome regulatory hurdles like federal banking regulations, placed on the cannabis industry.
  • Deschedule cannabis with the stroke of a pen – legislation isn’t required.
  • Issue full pardons for persons who were convicted solely for non-violent drug offenses and urge every governor to do the same.
  • Work with Congress to obtain the repeal of the Controlled Substances Act, which helped pave the way for the War on Drugs.
  • Push for the passage of the Drug Policy Reform Act, which would decriminalize possession and use of all drugs, allow for the criminal records of users to be sealed, and restore their right to vote. 
  • Encourage governors to not only follow suit but to reinforce the option of voluntary treatment for heavy users and addicts, so that they may maintain or return to their status as healthy, productive members of society. Mental health issues should be treated as such, and those needing help should be neither criminalized nor stigmatized by government policy.

REFORM POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY

The Federal doctrine of qualified immunity shall be eliminated, and no other restriction shall be placed on the people’s right to seek redress in court or through a duly appointed private oversight board. Law enforcement officers shall be personally bonded by private-sector insurance. No warrant shall have the authority to breach a private residence. No private asset shall be seized without a court order upon due process for showing debt.

Qualified immunity (QI) is a doctrine created, not by legislatures, but by judges to protect government officials from the consequences of their actions in civil suits.

The foundation of qualified immunity is the doctrine that in order for officials to be found liable for violating the constitutional rights of citizens, there must be a previous judicial ruling with similar facts in which an official was held accountable for their actions. In effect, without existing precedent, qualified immunity continuously prevents precedent from being established.

This violates the Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871, which were enacted to protect the civil liberties of former slaves. While focusing on persons of color, these Acts codify the right of all individuals to bring suit against government officials. Qualified immunity appeals to the belief that common law existed at the time these Acts were passed that protected government officials from civil liability, therefore negating the clear intent of these Acts.

While, in theory, the QI judicial doctrine extends to all government officials, in practice, it is used most to shield law enforcement officials from civil liability (as other mechanisms exist to hold other types of government officials accountable). As a result of QI, police have escaped accountability for all manner of mischief such as setting a suicidal man on fire, and accidentally shooting a child while aiming at a dog.

While QI affects individuals mostly at a state level, it has been codified in Federal courts; as such, it is at the Federal level where it must ended. The Supreme Court can – and should – rule that QI violates the Enforcement Acts as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment (and components of the 13th and 15th Amendments), but there is very little any President can do about Court decisions. My Administration will work with Congress to pass legislation that abolishes QI at the Federal level, which would have the added  effect of strengthening the scope of state and local laws which have attempted to end the practice within their jurisdiction.

AS PRESIDENT:

• End qualified immunity for federal law enforcement so those abused or harmed by law enforcement can have their day in court. While this judge-created rule that allows public officials to escape civil liability for the abuse of citizens’ rights is most often exercised at the state and local levels to shield rogue police officers, making  Federal agents liable for abuses of power would allow us to place pressure on state and local officials to follow suit.