Presidential Candidate Questionnaire on Criminal Justice Reform

Senator Elizabeth Warren

 1. Candidates unanimously agree on the need for justice reform. What is your primary reason for supporting reduction of the prison population? (Please select one)

a. To rectify racial injustices that disproportionately affect people of color.

b. To make our justice system more cost effective and save taxpayer dollars.

c. To provide individuals who have made mistakes with a second chance to live law-abiding lives.

d. To end unfair practices that negatively impact individuals in lower socio-economicbrackets.

e. To improve the safety of our communities and lower the crime rate.

f. Other.                                                      

Our current system is a result of dozens of choices that we’ve made, stacking the deck against the poor and the disadvantaged. Simply put, we have criminalized too many things. We send too many people to jail. We keep them there for too long. We do little to rehabilitate them. And we do all of this despite little evidence that our harshly punitive system makes our communities any safer. To make matters worse, the evidence is clear that there are structural race problems in this system. We cannot rectify this by nibbling around the edges. We need to tackle the problem at its roots by implementing a set of bold, structural changes at all levels of government.

2. Candidates have put forward lengthy criminal justice reform plans with dozens of proposed reforms. What is the first criminal justice reform bill that you would put before Congress as President? (Please select one)

a. A bill to remove or reduce mandatory minimum sentences.

b. A bill to provide financial incentives to states that reduce their prison populations. 

c A bill to reform the probation system or reinstate parole in the federal system.

d. A bill to reform the bail system.

e. A bill to reform drug laws.

f.  A bill to allow judges more flexibility in sentencing defendants to alternatives to prison.

g. A bill to end private prisons.

h. A bill to support police or prosecutorial reform.

i. A bill to increase opportunities for early release or remove barriers to successful reentry.

j. Other.                                                      

Meaningful sentencing reform targets three key pressure points in our criminal justice system. It would allow us to lower the number of people incarcerated in the first place, lower the length of incarceration, and ensure that people released from incarceration have the support they need to prevent recidivism. A president could accomplish this through legislation while still using executive authority to achieve other criminal justice reform objectives -- including incentivizing states to reduce their prison populations, ending contracts with private prisons, and supporting police or prosecutorial reform -- all on her own.

3. What is the first executive action that you would take as President on criminal justice reform? (Please select one)

a.   Reform or expand the clemency process.

b.   Repeal harsh prosecutorial directives of the Justice Department. 

c . End the federal use of private prisons.

d.     Establish a criminal justice reform commission.

e.     Establish an oversight division for the Bureau of Prisons.

f.      Fill vacancies in the United States Sentencing Commission.

g.     Other.                                                      

Private prisons are making millions of the backs of incarcerated people not only in the criminal justice space, but in immigration detention as well. Private detention centers have made millions implementing Trump’s cruel immigration policies, as today 73% of detained immigrants are held in private detention facilities. The companies running these prisons and detention centers regularly sacrifice safety to boost their bottom line. Incarcerating and detaining millions for profit doesn’t keep us safe. We need to call it out for what it is: corruption. It’s time to do better.

4. What is the biggest step that you would take to combat systemic racial bias in the justice system? (Please select one)

a.   Remove sentencing disparities for drug-related sentences.

b.   Implement reforms to reduce the overall prison population.

c.   End racial profiling across the justice system.

d.   Divert low-level offenders away from jail and prison time.

e.   Reform federal prosecutorial practices, or support local police reform.

f.   End the school-to-prison pipeline.

g.   Other.                                                      

Our current criminal system places enormous power in the hands of the state. The government controls what leads to pursue, what charges are levied, whether a plea is offered, and how long someone spends behind bars. It has massive resources at its disposal, and enjos few obligations to share information and limited oversight of its actions. To make matters worse, race permeates every aspect of the system. Law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges make countless decisions every day that shape the reality of our criminal justice system functions for the millions of Americans it comes into contact with. We must critically examine each aspect of the enforcement process to ensure that it is both just and consistent with public safety. 

5. It is critical that the President and Congress continue to act on criminal justice reform to establish national leadership on the issue. However, 86 percent of the national prison population is under the control of states. Most states have already acted to reduce their populations. What is the first step you would take to further incentivize states to reform their justice systems? (Please select one)

a.   Pass the Second Chance Reauthorization Act.

b.   Provide incentive funding to states that reduce their prison populations, while keeping down crime.

c.   Provide funding for states that reform their bail systems.

d.   Provide funding for local diversion programs and mental health and substance abuse treatment.

e.   Increase funding for local public defense systems.

f.   Other.                                                      

To achieve real criminal justice reform on a national scale, we must move the decisions of states and local governments as well. I will work with state and local governments and incentivize adoption of new federal standards through the grant making process, including by reprioritizing state and local grant making toward a restorative approach to justice and expanding grant funding for criminal justice reform. It’s not enough merely to reform our sentencing guidelines or improve police-community relations. We need to rethink our approach to public safety, transitioning away from a punitive system and investing in evidence-based approaches that address the underlying drivers of incarceration. That means investing in diversion programs for youth offenders, co-responder initiatives that connect law enforcement to mental health care providers and experts, and treatment rather than incarceration for substance abuse disorders. 

6. What is the first policy you would implement as President to increase successful reentry and reduce recidivism? (Please select one)

a.   Increase access to higher education.

b.   Increase employment opportunities.

c.   Reform probation and parole laws.

d.   Expand expungement and record sealing opportunities.

e. Provide greater drug abuse and mental health treatment. 

f .  Other. Address Collateral Sanctions

Reducing barriers to full reintegration in society reduces recidivism, but our system is rife with collateral consequences that hamper reentry for formerly incarcerated people, including in employment, housing, and voter enfranchisement.We should remove those barriers and allow the over 3 million returning citizens who have served their time to find work and fully rejoin their communities.

7. A November 2018 Washington Post investigation found large scale obstruction by the Justice Department in implementing the First Step Act. As President, how will you ensure that the First Step Act is faithfully and fully implemented? (Please select one)

a.   Ensure the Bureau of Prisons receives requisite funding to implement and expand the recidivism-reduction programming required by the Act.

b.   Hold the Justice Department accountable to abide by the law’s sentencing reforms and allowing the resentencing of eligible individuals.

c.   Improve the system in which federal prisoners are assessed for risk and needs before placed into recidivism-reduction programming.

d.   Other.                                                      

Prosecutors are enormously powerful and often not subject to scrutiny or accountability. And under the Trump Administration, some prosecutors have been alleged of purposefully subverting the Congressional intent of the First Step Act. We must take action to rein in prosecutorial abuses. I’ll establish a Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct to make recommendations for best practices and monitor the adoption of those recommendations. And I’ll create an independent prosecutorial integrity unit to hold accountable prosecutors who abuse their power.

8. Of the current bipartisan bills pending in Congress, which is your priority to see passed this year? (Please select one)

a.   The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, which would delay when federal employers may inquire about criminal history until later in the hiring process.

b.   The Clean Slate Act, which would provide automatic record sealing for nonviolent, drug-related offenses for individuals who have remained crime free.

c.   The REAL Act, which would remove the ban on incarcerated individuals accessing Pell Grants for higher education.

d.  The Smarter Sentencing Act, which would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for drug possessionoffenses.

e.   The Justice Safety Valve Act, which would allow judges to depart from harsh mandatory minimum sentences.

f.   Other.                                                      

For four decades, we’ve subscribed to a “War on Drugs” theory of crime, which has criminalized addiction, ripped apart families — and largely failed to curb drug use. The federal prison population has grown 650% since 1980, and costs have ballooned by 685%. This explosion has been driven in large part by rules requiring mandatory minimum sentences and other excessively long sentencing practices, including for nonviolent drug crimes. These harsh sentencing practices are not only immoral, there is little evidence that they are effective -- and they have been particularly harmful for communities of color. As president, I’ll fight to change them. 

9. What is your view on whether and when voting rights should be restored to individuals with criminal convictions? (Please select one)

a.   Voting rights should not be revoked for criminal convictions.

b.   Voting rights should be automatically restored for individuals upon release from prison.

c.   Voting rights should be automatically restored for individuals convicted of nonviolent or drug offenses upon release from prison.

d.   Voting rights should be automatically restored for individuals after they have completed all terms of their sentence, including parole and probation.

e.   Voting rights should not be restored for individuals who have had them revoked.

f.   Other.                                                      

Once someone pays their debt to society, they’re expected to pay taxes, expected to abide by the law, they’re expected to support themselves and their families, I think that means they’ve got a right to vote. As president, I’ll work to restore the vote to those who have served their time and left prison.

10. Please provide one example of a bipartisan effort you have engaged in to advance justice reform. (Please limit to 250 words)

I’m proud to have supported the bipartisan First Step Act, which includes provisions that Senator Booker and I put forward in our Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act like banning practice of shackling pregnant prisoners and requiring federal prisons to provide feminine hygiene products for free. And to build on that bill, I have proposed a clemency board that reports directly to the White House, and committed to direct that board to identify individuals who would have benefited retroactively under the First Step Act, among other broad classes of potentially deserving individuals for clemency review.

11. How would you work to build a bipartisan consensus to move the broadest possible justice reform package across the finish line? (Please limit to 250 words)

To get things done in Washington, we have to address the corruption that prevents proposals that are popular with the American people from gaining any traction on Capitol Hill. That’s why I’ve proposed the biggest anti-corruption plan since Watergate. It is an aggressive set of reforms that would fundamentally change the way Washington does business – including restoring faith that ordinary people can get a fair shake in our criminal justice system. My plan padlocks the revolving door between big business and government and ends lobbying as we know it, taking power in Washington away from the wealthy and well-connected and putting it in the hands of the American people. It also bans lobbyists from donating to or fundraising for political candidates and prohibits elected officials and senior agency officials from owning or trading any company stocks while in office – because the corporations that profit from mass incarceration should not get a veto over all of the work that we need to do.