Center-Left Approaches
A Centrist Bridge Across the Left and the Right
Great Rehabilitative/Resentencing Programs
Prosecuting the Police
Advocating for Women
Criminal Justice Reform Definitions
Hard Left
Abolition of Prisons and Police:
This position argues for the complete dismantling of the prison system and traditional policing. Proponents believe that these institutions are inherently oppressive and cannot be reformed. Instead, they advocate for community-based approaches to safety and restorative justice practices.
Decriminalization of All Drugs:
Advocates for this position argue that drug use should be treated as a public health issue rather than a criminal one. They support the full decriminalization of drug possession and use, alongside robust support systems for addiction treatment and harm reduction.
Defunding and Reallocation of Police Funds:
While not as extreme as outright abolition, this position calls for significant reductions in police budgets, with funds redirected to social services, mental health care, education, and community development programs to address the root causes of crime.
Decarceration/Eliminate Mandatory Minimums
This involves drastically reducing the number of people incarcerated by eliminating mandatory minimum sentences, releasing non-violent offenders, and providing alternatives to incarceration such as community service, probation, and electronic monitoring.
Immigrant Rights and Abolishing ICE:
Some on the extreme left call for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), arguing that its practices are inhumane and that immigration enforcement should be handled in a more just and compassionate manner.
Addressing systemic inequality through policies that tackle poverty, education disparities, and lack of access to healthcare, which are seen as underlying factors contributing to crime.
Moderate Left
Restorative and Transformative Justice:
Approaches to justice that emphasize healing and rehabilitation over punishment. Restorative justice focuses on repairing the harm caused by criminal behavior through dialogue, restitution, and reconciliation between victims, offenders, and the community. Transformative justice goes further by addressing the social conditions and systemic issues that contribute to crime.
A policy that advocates for ending the practice of requiring money as a condition for pretrial release. This reform aims to ensure that individuals are not detained simply because they cannot afford bail, promoting a fairer and more equitable legal system.
Police Accountability and Transparency:
Measures to ensure that police officers are held responsible for their actions and that their activities are open to public scrutiny. This includes independent oversight, body cameras, public access to police records, and clear consequences for misconduct and excessive use of force.
Tough Stances on Domestic Violence:
Policies and measures that aim to address and reduce domestic violence through strict enforcement of laws, comprehensive support for survivors, and prevention programs. This can include harsher penalties for offenders, better protective measures for victims, and increased funding for shelters and support services.
Regulations and policies aimed at reducing gun violence and ensuring public safety by controlling the sale, possession, and use of firearms. This can include background checks, restrictions on certain types of firearms, mandatory waiting periods, and measures to prevent individuals with a history of violence or mental illness from obtaining guns.
Important Criminal Justice Reform Organizations
Centrist
Specialized court programs that focus on individuals with mental health disorders or substance use disorders who have committed crimes. These courts aim to provide treatment and support rather than traditional punitive measures, with the goal of reducing recidivism and helping participants manage their conditions.
Criminal Resentencing (LA County):
The process of re-evaluating and potentially reducing the sentences of individuals who are already incarcerated. This can occur due to changes in the law, new evidence, or recognition that the original sentence was overly harsh or unjust.
Conviction Integrity Units (LA County):
Special divisions within a prosecutor's office that review and investigate claims of wrongful convictions. These units work to ensure that justice is served by correcting errors and preventing innocent individuals from remaining in prison.
Prosecutors who work closely with the communities they serve to address local crime issues and improve public safety. This approach emphasizes collaboration with community members and organizations to develop tailored solutions to crime and its underlying causes.
Victim Resiliency Units:
Santa Clara County
Los Angles County
Units within law enforcement or prosecutorial offices that provide support and resources to crime victims. These units help victims recover from the trauma of crime and navigate the criminal justice system, offering services such as counseling, legal assistance, and safety planning.
Worker Exploitation Task Force
Santa Clara County
Los Angles County
A specialized team dedicated to investigating and prosecuting cases of worker exploitation, including wage theft, unsafe working conditions, and human trafficking. These task forces aim to protect workers' rights and ensure fair labor practices.
Local Human Trafficking Task Forces:
Collaborative groups are typically composed of law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, social service providers, and community organizations at the local level. These task forces are dedicated to identifying, investigating, and prosecuting cases of human trafficking within their communities. Their efforts focus on rescuing and supporting victims, raising public awareness, and dismantling trafficking networks. They often provide comprehensive services to survivors, including legal assistance, medical care, counseling, and housing, while also working to prevent trafficking through education and community outreach.
Aggressive Cold Case Units:
Units within law enforcement agencies that focus on investigating unsolved crimes, often homicides or missing persons cases, that have gone cold due to lack of evidence or leads. These units use new technologies and re-examine old evidence to try to solve these cases.
Discretionary Prosecution of Juvenile Felons:
Policies that give prosecutors the discretion to decide whether to charge juveniles accused of felonies as adults or within the juvenile justice system. This approach considers factors such as the severity of the crime, the juvenile's age, and their potential for rehabilitation.
Hard Right
Tough on Crime Policies:
Advocates for harsh penalties for criminal offenses, including long prison sentences, mandatory minimum sentences, and three-strikes laws, which impose severe sentences on repeat offenders.
Support for Capital Punishment:
Endorsement of the death penalty for the most serious crimes, viewing it as a deterrent to crime and a just punishment for heinous acts.
Increased Police Funding and Presence:
Calls for more funding for police departments to ensure they have the resources needed to combat crime, along with a greater police presence in communities to deter criminal activity.
Strict Immigration Enforcement:
Strong support for rigorous enforcement of immigration laws, including the use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain and deport undocumented immigrants.
Victim Rights and Restitution:
Emphasis on ensuring that victims of crime receive justice and restitution, including support for laws that prioritize victims' rights in the criminal justice process.
Zero Tolerance Policies:
Advocacy for strict enforcement of laws without exceptions or leniency, often in contexts such as drug offenses, school policies, and public order offenses.
Opposition to Drug Legalization: Resistance to the legalization or decriminalization of drugs, maintaining that strict drug laws are necessary to combat substance abuse and related criminal activity.
Juvenile Justice:
Support for trying juveniles as adults for serious crimes and advocating for tough penalties for young offenders to serve as a deterrent.
Law and Order Candidates and Policies:
Backing political candidates and policies that emphasize a law and order approach, including support for judges and officials who have a record of tough sentencing.
Opposition to Bail Reform:
Resistance to reforms that eliminate cash bail or reduce pretrial detention, arguing that such measures are necessary to ensure that accused individuals appear for their court dates and do not pose a risk to public safety.
Pro-active policing or Racial Profiling:
The discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin rather than on objective evidence or behavior. This practice involves making decisions to stop, search, question, or detain individuals primarily because of their racial or ethnic appearance, rather than any specific and credible evidence suggesting involvement in criminal activity. Racial profiling is widely considered a violation of civil rights and an ineffective and unjust approach to law enforcement.