Bringing Humanity to Prison Sentencing Policy

I am running for Manhattan District Attorney because I believe that we should not be relying on prisons to solve society’s problems. Today our campaign is announcing a bold and imaginative set of sentencing reforms that will dramatically reduce the length of prison sentences sought by the Manhattan DA’s office once I am elected. In recent years, sentencing reform has received less attention than other local criminal justice issues, such as closing Rikers, bail reform, and police violence, but it is essential for reducing the number of people in prison and building stronger communities. These reforms are in line with New York’s progressive values and will move us closer to a city less dependent on incarceration.

Prosecutors and judges in the U.S. seek the longest sentences in the world. From Canada to Germany to Scandinavia, prison sentences longer than 15 years are extremely rare. Many countries believe, as Pope Francis says, that severely long prison terms are an immoral “hidden death sentence”. Even the United States had comparable sentencing policies for much of the 20th century, before the “tough on crime” rhetoric of the 1980s and 1990s fueled mass incarceration. But today there are over 200,000 Americans serving life sentences, and 8,000 New Yorkers serving sentences of 20 years or longer. In my own life and the lives of people close to me, I have seen how long prison terms rip families and communities apart. For decades, we have been told a false story that this is necessary for our public safety. In reality, there are far more effective ways to hold people accountable and end cycles of harm.

As Manhattan DA, I will make the following changes to our sentencing policy:

· No longer seek sentences of longer than 20 years for any crime. Most violent crime is committed by young men, and there is overwhelming evidence that people age out of crime. Likewise, lengthening prison sentences does not further deter crime. In fact, long sentences actually reduce long-term public safety by increasing recidivism. We will be the first DA office in the country to implement this proposal for all crimes, including homicide. (There will be exceptions for extreme situations, such as terrorism, and under state law judges retain discretion to issue longer sentences in certain cases.)

· Stop coercive plea bargaining. When 95% of New York State cases are resolved by plea bargains, pleas aren’t just part of the criminal justice system — they are the system. The practice of leveraging lengthy prison sentences to extract guilty pleas and impose a “trial penalty” is immoral, and results in innocent people going to prison.

· End the War on Drugs. That means no longer criminally prosecuting drug possession, and treating the opioid deaths for what they are: a major public health crisis. It also means showing patience with people desperately fighting to beat their addictions and providing economic pathways out of the illicit drug trade.

· Establish sentencing review units. Just as Conviction Integrity Review Units, when well-designed, have emerged in recent years as a check on reckless prosecuting, Sentencing Review Units will assess whether there are people in New York State prison serving immorally long sentences based on past prosecutions by the Manhattan DA’s office.

· Reduce Manhattan’s jail population by 80%. In October, we released a roadmap for reducing Manhattan jail’s population by 80%, reforms that would affect people accused of crimes pre-trial, people sentenced for minor offenses, and people on parole. These proposals address the way our office would handle mental health and substance use issues.

· Support parole applicants. Instead of reflexively opposing parole applications, our DA’s office will support people coming home at the end of their sentences and particularly fight for people who have worked hard in prison to move on from their past and are prepared to serve their communities.

End the oppressive use of state conspiracy charges in youth “gang” cases. Law enforcement has criminalized an entire generation of Black and brown young people by labeling them as gang members on connections as flimsy as shared Facebook photos, and used state conspiracy laws to prosecute them as criminal associates. State conspiracy charges have been abused for too long, and I will not use them against our communities.

· Support New York State legislation that will further our goal of dismantling mass incarceration. Legislation that would achieve this includes ending mandatory minimums, raising the age of youthful offender status to 25, reforming “predicate sentencing” laws, passing Fair and Timely Parole Act and Elder Parole Act, and extending the right to vote for all people in prison.

New York City is uniquely positioned to achieve these transformational goals. We are privileged with enormous resources, thousands of nonprofits and community groups, and elite universities and hospitals. It is within the proud progressive tradition of our city to embrace bold ideas to improve peoples’ lives and undo five decades of misguided mass incarceration policies. As always, I must acknowledge that the best long-term solutions to public safety will be found in investments we make outside of the criminal justice system — investments in education, health, housing, and economic opportunity. Yet when harm occurs, my Manhattan DA’s office will seek accountability, end those cycles of harm, and turn peoples’ lives around. This is how we build safe and healthy communities.

We encourage readers to visit our full policy proposal, and visit our campaign website at JanosForDA.com, and share your feedback on how to build a stronger and fairer Manhattan.