As reported in this NPR piece, "Democrats met remotely Monday afternoon to approve a lengthy policy platform that seeks to balance the interests of the Democratic Party's more moderate and liberal factions." Here is a bit more about the meeting and its product:
The virtual meeting came three weeks ahead of what will be one of the strangest party conventions in U.S. history: No delegates and few Democratic dignitaries will travel to Milwaukee to nominate former Vice President Joe Biden to be the party's standard-bearer. Instead, the convention will be held mostly remotely, with only Biden and a few other speakers appearing from Milwaukee.
The draft platform, released last week, draws heavily from a report issued this month by joint task forces organized by Biden and his onetime campaign rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. It tries to bridge the gap between Sanders' progressive politics and Biden's more moderate approach to governing.
The criminal justice discussion and recommendations, which appear at pp. 32 to 35 of this 80-page draft DNC platform, includes a number of reform proposals that track ideas and language emerging from the 110-page Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force recommendations discussed here. Here are some sections that should be of special interest to sentencing fans:
Democrats know we can end the era of mass incarceration and dramatically reduce the number of Americans held in jails and prisons while continuing to reduce crime rates, which have fallen steadily from their peak nearly three decades ago....
A growing number of states have recognized it is unjust — and unjustifiable — to punish children and teenagers as harshly as adults. We believe that if you aren’t old enough to drink, you aren’t old enough to be sentenced to life without parole. The federal government will incentivize states to stop incarcerating kids, and develop community-based alternatives to prison and detention centers for youth and invest in after-school programs, community centers, and summer jobs to provide opportunities for young people at risk....
It is past time to end the failed “War on Drugs,” which has imprisoned millions of Americans — disproportionately people of color — and hasn’t been effective in reducing drug use. Democrats support policies that will reorient our public safety approach toward prevention, and away from over-policing — including by making evidence-based investments in jobs, housing, education, and the arts that will make our nation fairer, freer, and more prosperous....
Substance use disorders are diseases, not crimes. Democrats believe no one should be in prison solely because they use drugs. Democrats will decriminalize marijuana use and reschedule it through executive action on the federal level. We will support legalization of medical marijuana, and believe states should be able to make their own decisions about recreational use. The Justice Department should not launch federal prosecutions of conduct that is legal at the state level. All past criminal convictions for cannabis use should be automatically expunged. And rather than involving the criminal justice system, Democrats support increased use of drug courts, harm reduction interventions, and treatment diversion programs for those struggling with substance use disorders....
Sentencing decisions should be based on the facts of each case, including the severity of the offense and individuals’ circumstances. Democrats support allowing judges to determine appropriate sentences, which is why we will fight to repeal federal mandatory minimums, incentivize states to do the same, and make all sentencing reductions retroactive so judges can reconsider past cases where their hands were tied. We believe it is long past time to end the federal sentencing disparity between crack and powdered cocaine, which has contributed to the disproportionate imprisonment of people of color. And Democrats continue to support abolishing the death penalty....
Democrats are proud that the Obama-Biden Administration commuted the sentences of more than 1,700 people serving unjust sentences following thorough review of their individual cases, and we support the continued use of the President’s clemency powers to secure the release of those serving unduly long sentences. We denounce President Trump’s inappropriate use of clemency to help his friends and political cronies avoid justice. We also support establishing an independent clemency board to ensure an appropriate, effective process for using clemency, especially to address systemic racism and other priorities.
Democrats support ending the use of private prisons and private detention centers, and will take steps to eliminate profiteering from diversion programs, commercial bail, electronic monitoring, prison commissaries, and reentry and treatment programs. Democrats believe prisoners should have a meaningful opportunity to challenge wrongful convictions and unconstitutional conditions in prisons. We also believe that too many of our jails and prisons subject people to inhumane treatment, and will work to end practices like solitary confinement for adults and juveniles and ban the use of restraints on pregnant federal inmates. Incarcerated people must not be denied access to vital medical care or unnecessarily exposed to disease, as they have been during the COVID-19 pandemic. And Democrats will pursue a holistic approach to rehabilitation, increasing support for programs that provide educational opportunities, including pursuing college degrees, for those in the criminal justice system, both in prison and upon release.
Democrats believe in redemption. We must deepen our commitment to helping those who have served their time re-enter society, earn a good living, and participate in our democracy as the full citizens they are. We will aim to ensure access to transitional housing for returning citizens, support expanded access to mental health and substance use treatment, and will stop the practice of reincarcerating people for technical violations of probation or parole. Democrats support federal and state efforts to “ban the box” and will make it easier for returning citizens to access work opportunities through the Job Corps. The formerly incarcerated should not be blocked from exercising their voting rights or accessing public services, including Pell Grants and nutrition assistance, available to other free citizens of the United States. Continuing to punish a person after they have rejoined the community is both cruel and counterproductive.
There are lots of consequential (and politically and practically challenging) reforms being proposed here, ranging from pledging to try to do away with the death penalty and all mandatory minimum sentencing provisions to significant marijuana reforms to the creation of a clemency board to making "all sentencing reductions retroactive." If the Democrats could achieve even a portion of what's called for in this document in the coming years, it would make for a truly historic period in federal criminal justice reform.
And yet, though I like a lot of what I see here, I am still sad some of the most interesting aspects of the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force recommendations being left out. Specifically, that document called, inter alia, for "issu[ing] new federal guidelines that advise prosecutors not to overcharge cases in order to coerce plea deals, or to pursue harsher sentences in order to penalize citizens for exercising their right to a jury trial"; for "encourag[ing] states to invest tax revenue from legal marijuana industries to repair damage to Black and brown communities hit hardest by incarceration"; for "task[ing] the U.S. Sentencing Commission with conducting a comprehensive review of existing sentencing guidelines and statutory sentencing ranges, with the goal of generating legislative recommendations, promulgating new guidelines, and issuing formal guidance to reduce unreasonably long sentences and promote rehabilitation"; for "creat[ing] a U.S. Reentry Commission to conduct a comprehensive review of barriers to reentry, with the goal of taking executive action and proposing legislation to remove as many as possible."
A number of progressives were concerned that the Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force recommendations were too moderate on a number of matters, and it seems that this draft 2020 Democratic Party Platform is reining in the reform vision and ambition still further at least in the criminal justice arena. That said, both the language and the proposals of this document are far more far-reaching and reform-minded than any comparable document in recent decades. Though not as bold as some might hope, the fundamental boldness of this draft platform should not be underappreciated.
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