Last week at the DNC Democrats vowed to fight for a future with freedom for all Americans, a future where everyone can have a life full of possibility and free from fear. Criminal justice reform is an essential part of securing that freedom. 

Friends,

It was good to see so many of you at the DNC last week. The message we heard from Democrats, onstage and off, was about a future with more freedom: the freedom to have good housing, good healthcare, and a well-paying job. Freedom to send your kids to school without worrying about gun violence. Freedom to build a better future with your loved ones.

To us, and so many voters, freedom must also include freedom to be safe in our communities and freedom from mass incarceration and its many collateral consequences that stifle opportunity for too many American families.

Onstage at the DNC, I saw Ashley Biden lift up her work with formerly incarcerated women. I was moved by the Exonerated Five, and the contrast they painted between a more just future and one full of fear mongering and lies. 

In this final election sprint there may be scant time for deep policy conversations, but voters should and likely will continue to ask questions about what they can expect from the candidates when it comes to their commitment to freedom secured through criminal justice reform. So, as voters and pundits dig in on the details, we thought we would lift up some of the reforms we think are worth bragging about.

The evidence and voters agree–more of this, please.

While we hope it’s just the beginning of what’s to come in future elections, the truth is that the Harris-Walz ticket has what is probably the strongest record on criminal justice reform of any prior major party presidential ticket. And far from being something to hide from or defend against, it’s something to celebrate. People across the country, across political parties, like these policies and want to see more. And the research is conclusive: these are the kind of changes that make our country stronger and safer.

✔ Win: Promoting accountability and growth for young people

One of Vice President Harris’ signature accomplishments as DA in San Francisco was an early diversion program for young adults charged with low-level drug offenses, Back on Track. The program showed early success, with less than 10% of its graduates recidivating compared to a statewide rate of more than 50% recidivism among people with drug convictions. The program helped pave the way to further young adult diversion in the city and across the country.

This kind of powerful evidence is why Minnesota lawmakers and Governor Walz created a state Office of Restorative practices last year, to hold young people accountable through community-based approaches that increase their chances of success. The understanding that kids should be treated as kids is also part of why Minnesota joined the wave of states ending the practice of sentencing young people to life without parole. 

✔ Win: Treating drugs as a public health issue and decriminalizing marijuana

Vice President Harris has said it more than once: “nobody should have to go to jail for smoking weed.” That’s why the Biden-Harris Administration pardoned thousands of people for marijuana use and possession, and called on state Governors to do the same. That’s also why they called on the Justice Department to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. In Minnesota, Governor Walz signed a law legalizing and regulating recreational marijuana and expanded access to harm reduction services last year.

Research shows incarceration is ineffective in reducing drug use, drug arrests, or overdoses. In fact, incarceration increases the risk of overdose for those released. On the flip side: expanding access to Medicaid has been shown to reduce drug arrests by 25 to 41%. 

Polling conducted by BSG on behalf of FWD.us, Feb 2024

✓ Win: Taking a second look at long sentences

More than 200,000 people are currently serving life or virtual life sentences in American prisons, many of whom could be safely at home and contributing to their communities. Vice President Harris helped ensure that the First Step Act included retroactive sentencing changes that allowed for earlier release of people serving long sentences in federal prison. Nearly 30,000 people have been released early from these reforms, and their recidivism rate was 37% lower than a comparable group. As Vice President, she helped get the U.S. Sentencing Commission up and running again after it was dormant and unstaffed for years. The Commission has already released amendments that are safely reducing long prison terms and making our federal criminal justice system fairer.

In Minnesota, last year’s public safety package included a number of reforms to safely reduce long sentences–from allowing people to earn time off their sentence for participating in rehabilitative programs, to letting prosecutors take a second look at long sentences. The research clearly supports these common sense reforms: long sentences waste people’s lives and taxpayer dollars without making us safer.

Polling conducted by BSG on behalf of FWD.us, Feb 2024

✔ Win: Investing in second chances and removing barriers to success

Vice President Harris and Governor Walz have also been long-time supporters of reforms that remove barriers to civic participation, education and employment. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the Second Chance Pell Initiative enrolled more than 17,000 students in postsecondary degree or certification programs in one year and will reach thousands more in the years to come. Research shows that taking even a single college course while incarcerated cuts the chances of returning to prison by nearly half. Governor Walz’s wife, Gwen, has also been a longtime supporter of education for people in prison.

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the Small Business Administration changed their rules to allow people on probation and parole to access loans and expand access to entrepreneurship–which has been shown to reduce recidivism by 30-64%. In Minnesota, Governor Walz signed the Clean Slate Act to automatically clear people’s records for qualifying convictions, expanding pathways and opportunities for employment. 

✔ Win: Investing in stronger communities and stopping cycles of violence

Taking safety seriously means investing in strong communities. Decades of evidence tells us mass incarceration does not keep us safe, but there is a strong and growing understanding about what does: connecting people to housing, healthcare and treatment, neighborhood improvements, and access to jobs and opportunity. We also know that we can take violence seriously and meet the needs of victims without backtracking on reform. Voters of all kinds, including victims of crime, support investments in community-based solutions that have been shown to prevent and interrupt cycles of shootings and homicides.

These are exactly the kinds of community solutions that Vice President Harris and Governor Walz have invested in. The Biden-Harris Administration stood up the first-ever Office of Gun Violence Prevention and made historic investments in community responses to violence, which likely helped drive one of the largest declines in homicide ever recorded in 2023 and continued historic declines this year. In 2023, Governor Walz approved $70 million for community violence prevention grants, and $10 million to improve the training and availability of non-police crisis response teams.

Say it with me: safety and justice go hand in hand

We have so much work to do to build the stronger, safer, and more just country we want. A country that loves and values freedom. And the reforms above championed by Vice President Harris and Governor Walz point the direction for where we need to go. From 2012 to 2022, 45 states reduced imprisonment and crime rates at the same time, and crime fell twice as fast in the states that reduced imprisonment than in the five where it increased. Minnesota has reduced crime by 20% and imprisonment by 18%. California reduced crime by 12% and imprisonment by 29%.

We can and should stand on our ten toes and own the wins for criminal justice reform. Together, we can defend justice, advance safety, and normalize freedom.

Zoë Towns

Executive Director, FWD.us