Philadelphia has become a national leader in criminal justice reform. With the election of Larry Krasner as District Attorney, the decarceration movement has pushed a transformation that’s led to our jail population being its lowest in 20 years.
The system has been criminalizing poverty, profiling black and brown communities, and creating a feedback system that never lets go of people with a criminal record. We are finally undoing the harm caused by the “tough on crime” era of our past. This is a historic moment for our city and country, but there is more that must be done. We must continue to win big in the areas of sentencing reform, diversion programs, and holistic approaches to violence in our communities. As a state representative, I am fighting for the liberation of all of our people to ensure that no one is treated as a second-class citizen.
I will continue to:
- Work to limit pre-trial holding to only the most serious offenses, stand against the implementation of racially-biased risk assessment algorithms, and eliminate the use of cash bail
- Reduce the number of people entering the justice system by expanding access to diversion programs
- Push for probation and parole reform that caps sentencing for felonies and misdemeanors, eliminate technical violations on the basis of inability to pay fines and fees
- Fight for sentencing reform that revises the Pennsylvania Sentencing Code, abolishing mandatory minimums, the death penality, life without parole, and Act 33, which allows juveniles to be tried as adults
- Address gun violence through a combination of gun reform legislation and community-based solutions that respect survivors and neighborhoods
- Support a moratorium on new state prisons