Issue Position: Criminal Justice

Arizona is 4th highest in the nation for mass incarceration and leads the US in locking up women. Our state's leaders have thus far ignored this problem despite the many evidence-based solutions that have worked to reduce incarceration in neighboring states.

End Cash Bail
Arizona needs to end pre-trial detention by reserving it for only the most extreme cases. 7 out of 10 persons in Arizona jails at any given moment are too poor to bail themselves out. Yet none of these people have been convicted of crime but face stark collateral consequences such as job loss, eviction, or even losing custody of their children.

End Mass Incarceration
Arizona's jails and prisons are filled with people whose only offense is drug-related. We must stop incarcerating people struggling with drug addiction and pass common-sense justice reforms such as legalizing marijuana possession and ending mandatory minimums.

End Life Sentencing for Children
Arizona is one of the few states that still sends kids away for life without the possibility of probation or parole. Our children deserve second chances and need a safe and loving environment to grow and learn from their mistakes, not to be caged.

End Private Prisons
There should not be a profit motive attached to imprisonment and Arizona's prison infrastructure is crumbling while producing an abysmal recidivism rate of 2 to 1. Inhumane treatment of people behind bars must stop and we can fix it by investing in a true corrections system that seeks to rehabilitate over driving up incarceration rates.

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