All should support The People’s Justice Guarantee

One of America’s great shames is its massive prison population. Currently, 2,200,000 reside in over 6,800 federal, state and local jail facilities. Annual cost exceeds $100 billion. Incarceration crazed America far outpaces both developed and developing countries, boasting the highest incarceration rate at 724 per hundred thousand (worldwide average just 135). The US makes up just 4.2% of world’s population but locks up 21% of its prisoners.

Sadly, little attention has be given to Massachusetts House member Ayanna Pressley’s bold legislation to revamp America’s failed criminal justice system. House Resolution 702, titled The People’s Justice Guarantee, calls for fundamental changes to justice akin to the Green New Deal’s effort to redefine how we address climate change.

It provides tax incentives to states that repeal Truth In Sentencing and Life for Three Strikes laws. It calls for end to capital punishment, life sentences, mandatory minimums, cash bail and fines that fund court systems. Savings achieved by a smaller prison population would be used to fund criminal diversion opportunities, restorative justice programs, treatment and community service.

Pressley is one of the four members of the US House ‘Squad’, whom the president as labeled 'radical and un-American'. Nothing could be more American and more conservative than ending the tragic waste of 2,200,000 lives, many of whom don’t belong there, languishing in jail. Nothing could be more American and conservative than using many billions in savings to move America closer to being the just nation it proclaims to be. It's time to support The People's Justice Guarantee.