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Law and Criminal Justice

The Law and Criminal Justice Task Force covers all issues related to law enforcement and criminal justice such as criminal justice reform, mass incarceration, juvenile justice system reform, racial or ethnic profiling, unequal prosecution of minorities, drug decriminalization or legalization, police procedures, community security, and sentencing. Has primary jurisdiction over issues such as gun policy, mass incarceration, racial and ethnic profiling, police brutality, and unequal prosecution of minorities which may be shared with the Human and Civil Rights Task Force. Has primary jurisdiction over marijuana legalization or decriminalization which may be shared with the Healthcare Task Force.

Task Force Leadership 2024-2025

Special Priorities (New priorities to be determined in Spring 2020)

  1. Pass a Resolution on Cannabis Policy Reform
  2. Pass a Resolution on Gun Policy Reform
  3. Engage in a broader look into Criminal Justice Reform including evaluating policies like:
  4. Increasing access to treatment for those affected by the substance abuse epidemic
  5. Expanding diversion programs, especially for veterans and individuals with mental illnesses
  6. Creating a path for the expungement of juvenile records, so young people get a second chance
  7. Eliminating some mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent and low-level drug offensives
  8. Amending the opioid trafficking laws to hold accountable those who are looking to profit off the ongoing epidemic
  9. Ban the Box and other prison to work policies, including expungement
  10. Reevaluating private prisons
  11. Justice reinvestments
  12. Reevaluating mandatory minimums

Recent Resolutions

2021-19

Targeting the Data Gaps in Gun Violence and Police Use of Force

2021-18

Support for the MORE Act to Deschedule Cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, Expunge Convictions, and other Reparative Reforms

2019-24

Improving Law Enforcement Resources to Address Disparities in Investigating Violence Against Native American Women

2019-22

Curtailing the Use of Solitary Confinement, Guaranteeing Fair Visitation Rights to Inmates and Families, and Prohibiting Price-Gouging on Inmate Telecom and Tech Options

2019-14

Reducing Recidivism Through Reintegration Policies

2019-03

Calling for the Creation and Improvement of Restorative Justice Programs to Reduce Contacts Between Youth and the Justice System

2018-10

Common Sense Gun Safety to Prevent Terrorism and School Massacres

2017-12

Providing a Legal Framework when Jurisdictions Decide to Decriminalize, Commercialize and Tax Cannabis

2016-11

Resolution Supporting Repeal of the Death Penalty

2016-10

Disparity in Criminal Sentences and Time Served in Prison for Individuals Convicted in Federal Courts Versus State Courts, and the Impact on Native Americans and People of Color