REFORM OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

• Platform

Democrats are committed to reforming our criminal justice system and ending mass incarceration. ... Research and evidence, rather than slogans and sound bites, must guide criminal justice policies.

Local Planks

Counter State's "pay-to-vote" gambit

Support police-community boards

Reform bail procedures

Jailing people before trial doesn't necessarily make us safer. For example, "Results published [March 2019] bolstered reformers' case that cash bail is ineffective, at least in Philadelphia." The same source adds, "But such research is hard to apply widely, and scientists face other obstacles, including police, prosecutors, and prisons reluctant to share data." 

We should push the City Council to conduct local research--or admit current bail arrangements are more about getting political contributions from bail bonding businesses, than protecting citizens.