Gubernatorial campaign websites: on Crime
Lupe Valdez:
End the era of mass incarceration, plus major reforms
We must end the era of mass incarceration, reform the cash bail system, decriminalize misdemeanor possession of marijuana, and ban for-profit prisons. These are major contributing factors to systemic oppression, racism, and classism. We must also
work together with municipalities to strengthen the bonds of trust between police and communities and train our police forces to the highest standard, because better trained and accountable police forces means safer neighborhoods and safer cops.
Source: 2018 Texas Gubernatorial campaign website LupeValdez.com
Oct 9, 2018
Philip Levine:
Top-down & bottom-up audit of the Department of Corrections
Our state has almost 100K inmates and the highest voter disenfranchisement rate in the nation. Philip will conduct an extensive, top-down and bottom-up review and investigation of the Department of Corrections. It's time to audit the private prison
scheme to identify fraud that is costing taxpayers money, review the vetting of visitors, so it treats families with respect and dignity, and review and decriminalize minor offenses, so we don't clog our prison system with non-violent offenders.
Source: 2018 Florida Governor campaign website PhilipLevine2018.com
Oct 9, 2018
Keith Stern:
Convicts should serve in same state where sentenced
Each state is its own COUNTRY, to be sent to another country to serve one's sentence would be Unconstitutional. It is not Constitutional for one to be sentenced BY THEIR PEERS in one Sovereign State and then have the sentence carried out in another
Sovereign State where there are NO PEERS. Then why is it acceptable for a person to be sentenced in Vermont and incarcerated in Pennsylvania or any other State? Each State is exactly the same as a Country and the words are interchangeable.
Source: 2018 VT Gubernatorial campaign website VermontGetsStern.org
Sep 18, 2018
Jeff Johnson:
Violent criminals must be locked up, some for long sentences
The role of government in our lives should be as limited as possible, but providing for the public safety of all is one of the most important jobs of government. While I have always supported alternatives to incarceration for low-level, nonviolent
offenders and believe strongly in providing 2nd chances for those who make mistakes, we have one of the lowest incarceration rates in the country and violent criminals must be locked up and very violent criminals must be locked up for a very long time.
Source: 2018 Minnesota JohnsonForGovernor.org campaign website
Sep 1, 2018
Mike Dunleavy:
Attack crime with aggressive response
The explosive growth in violent and property crime that Alaska has experienced in recent years demands an aggressive response.
Alaska now leads the nation in almost every category of crime, making our state the most dangerous in the country.
Source: 2018 AK governor Campaign website AlaskansForDunleavy.com
Sep 1, 2018
Bill Schuette:
History of getting justice for rape victims
Bill Schuette fought for victims of violent crime and won. Schuette got justice for rape victims by finding funding to test abandoned
evidence kits, track down the rapists and prosecute them. And, Bill has helped recover millions in back child support for children in need.
Source: 2018 Michigan Governor campaign website BillSchuette.com
Aug 31, 2018
Ben Jealous:
Smart-on-crime policies that create a just system for all
Our current criminal justice system is wasteful, inefficient, and makes us less safe.
We must implement smart-on-crime policies that ensure safety and prosperity while creating a just system for all.
Source: 2018 Maryland Gubernatorial campaign website, BenJealous.com
Jun 26, 2018
Abdul El-Sayed:
Move from prison to productive citizenship
The growth of Michigan's prison system has created a volatile prison environment that harms prisoners as well as corrections officers, staff, and communities. Michigan has an incarceration rate 11% higher than the national average. More importantly,
Michigan's incarceration rates for African-Americans compared to white Americans remains far higher than the national average (6.6:1 compared to 5:1 nationally). Yet, our crime rates are not lower and our communities are not safer.As governor,
I will commit to reforming the Michigan criminal justice system through five policy priorities:- Reducing sentence length
- Reducing the prison population
- Improving prison conditions
- Supporting returning citizens
- Improving hiring and
training standards for police to end police violence.
By targeting these areas, we can move more Michiganders from prison to productive citizenship, while reducing the biases that undermine our systems of criminal justice and law enforcement.
Source: 2018 Michigan Governor campaign website AbdulForMichigan.com
Mar 21, 2018
Cary Kennedy:
Mass incarceration has a devastating impact
Over the past 35 years, Colorado's state prison budget has increased by almost 13 times. In 2015 we incarcerated nearly eight times as many people as we did in 1980.
This era of mass incarceration in our state has had a devastating impact on individuals, families, communities, and the state's budget. Reforming our state's criminal justice system will require a nuanced and thorough set of reforms.
As Governor, I will advance an agenda that prioritizes prevention and ensures that jails are not a replacement for important mental health services.
We must confront the severe racial biases present in our criminal justice system and we need to demand solutions to bring down the rate of recidivism in our prisons and jails.
Source: 2018 Governor campaign website CaryKennedyForGovernor.com
Mar 21, 2018
David Garcia:
Prisons are costly substitute for mental health treatment
Under Ducey's failed leadership, Arizona has risen to 4th highest in mass incarceration in the nation. Mass incarceration is a tremendous social and financial drain on our communities. Arizona's jails and prisons have become an inefficient and costly
substitute for addiction and mental health treatment; and money that could go to public education, healthcare, and community-oriented crime prevention instead goes to prop up a failing prison system.Arizona's corrections system is in shambles.
The recidivism rate has risen to an all-time high of 50%. Incarceration of women is on the rise, with the majority of women behind bars for non-violent, low-level drug offenses. We cannot continue to waste money--and lives--propping up
this failed system.
We aren't going to build a better future for our state by tearing families apart with counterproductive--and costly--prison sentences. Investments in early childhood education can lead to reduced incarceration later in life.
Source: 2018 Arizona Gubernatorial campaign website dg4az.com
Mar 21, 2018
Steve Barlock:
Support death penalty's use as intended
Q: Would you support abolishing the death penalty in Colorado?A: No. Gov. Hickenlooper might be content for [a convicted murderer] to live out his life, [or for one who was] convicted of killing a police Detective. However, our state legal system
fairly condemned [those murderers] to death. Unlike our current Governor, I believe in the enforcement of our laws and would allow the sentences of all criminals to be carried out as intended by Colorado's judicial system including their execution.
Source: Q&A on 2018 Governor campaign website BarlockForGovernor.com
Mar 21, 2018
Jay Gonzalez:
Treat underlying conditions that contribute to crime
Nothing predicts a person's future involvement with the criminal justice system as strongly as spending their first day in jail. To make our communities safer, we need criminal justice reform from the front end to the back end. We need to do everything
we can to prevent crime. We need to invest in education and housing and shared economic growth, giving even our most at-risk residents healthy and productive pathways.When crime does occur, we need to deal with it effectively, swiftly and fairly.
We need to treat the underlying conditions that contribute to crime, especially mental illness and addiction. We need to give all parts of the system, including police, prosecutors, public defenders, and corrections systems, a wider range of tools and
options to tailor punishment and rehabilitation to the particular facts of a case and needs of the defendant. We need to expand in-prison and post-release programs to stop the cycle of recidivism and reincarceration.
Source: 2018 Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign website jay4ma.com
Dec 12, 2017
Jay Gonzalez:
Over-incarceration has terrible costs for society
Overincarceration is terribly expensive for taxpayers--over $53,000 per inmate per year in state prison. Corrections spending per inmate in Massachusetts is rising faster than other areas of the budget. Overcrowding in our jails crowds out other
important investments Massachusetts needs to make in our Commonwealth.Overincarceration has terrible costs for individuals, families and communities as well. Former inmates earn 40% less each year than they would have earned had they not been
incarcerated.
The overincarceration problem starts even before a defendant goes to trial. Unlike federal and many state courts, Massachusetts does not use a validated risk assessment process to make evidence-based bail decisions.
Pre-trial detainees in Massachusetts are incarcerated on average nearly 60 days before release, compared to a national median length for a felony defendant of 45 days.
Source: 2018 Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign website jay4ma.com
Dec 12, 2017
J.B. Pritzker:
Against death penalty; rectify wrongful convictions
My wife and I helped support the Center on Wrongful Convictions, which has become the national leader in rectifying wrongful convictions and did much of the work behind Illinois's moratorium on capital punishment.
[The Center on Wrongful Convictions is based at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, so named after School of Law alumnus J.B. Pritzker and his wife, M.K. Pritzker, made a $100 million gift.]
Source: 2018 Illinois gubernatorial campaign website JBPritzker.com
Jul 17, 2017
Nate Boulton:
Public safety & police can't be done on the cheap
Iowa's public servants, including police officers, firefighters and DHS field staff are the bedrock of building Iowa's safe and secure communities. Their funding has been cut, their rights to better wages and benefits rolled back,
and even their very safety put at risk from reduced staffing levels. If we are going to have safe and secure communities we must once again give our public servants the resources they need to be successful.
Source: 2018 Iowa gubernatorial campaign website BoultonForIowa.com
Jul 17, 2017
George Brauchler:
Defend local law enforcement and provide resources
Our police, firefighters and first responders are on the front lines of our defense and they need to be treated respectfully and with the highest regard. I will vigorously defend them when they are right, encourage improvement
where needed and expect accountability at all times. I will ensure that our local law enforcement agencies have the resources that are necessary to keep our communities safe.
Source: 2018 Colorado Gubernatorial campaign website george2018.com
Jul 12, 2017
George Brauchler:
Create specialized units to fight crime
- Created a Domestic Violence Unit to develop prosecution specialists who can get justice in these difficult cases.
- Launched a Veterans Treatment Court for offenders struggling with service-related trauma issues.
- Established a
Human Trafficking Team to aggressively tackle this burgeoning crime of sexual slavery.
- Created a Cold Case Unit to try to make sure that those who commit the worst crimes cannot walk away from them forever.
Source: 2018 Colorado Gubernatorial campaign website george2018.com
Jul 12, 2017
Connie Pillich:
Worked as public defender, and challenged predatory lenders
In the Air Force, Connie completed her MBA, served in Berlin at the height of the cold war, and served in support of Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield. Connie and her husband then settled in Cincinnati and started a family, and she graduated
from law school.Connie worked as a public defender and later opened her own law practice where she challenged predatory lenders on behalf of vulnerable senior citizens.
Source: 2018 Ohio gubernatorial campaign website ConniePillich.com
May 2, 2017
David Hadley:
Supports death penalty; tracking sex offenders; and more
A proponent of the death penalty, David Hadley also co-authored AB 46 that makes it a felony if there's intent to use date rape drugs.
He voted to increase punishment for threatening to discharge a firearm on school grounds and tampering with GPS devices that track sex offenders--plus, he supported making it easier for judges to impose protective orders for domestic violence.
Source: 2018 CA gubernatorial campaign website DavidHadley.com
May 2, 2017
David Hadley:
Prevent schools from covering up staff sexual abuse
Father of four public school children and a strong voice for our South Bay students, citizen legislator David Hadley authored Assembly Bill 1452--signed into law by Governor Brown--preventing school administrators from covering up teacher and
staff sexual abuse. He also co-sponsored legislation that allows our local schools to increase the amount of money they can save for a rainy day.
Source: 2018 CA gubernatorial campaign website DavidHadley.com
May 2, 2017
Tina Liebling:
Officers should control situation without deadly force
Our diversity is our strength, but Minnesota's gaps in health, wealth, and opportunity are holding us back. Peaceful civil disobedience has often been the catalyst that moves society toward justice. We don't need additional penalties or threats to those
who step forward to make change. The right to protest--and sometimes even to get arrested for it--strengthens our democracy.The well-publicized police killings of African American people and the killings of police officers have torn the bandage off
an old and festering wound. We must create a culture and system that allow for fair and just treatment of all Minnesotans. Law enforcement officers have a tough job, but they must always be held to high and clear standards and accountable to the public.
We need a new standard for law enforcement's use of force--as exists in some other countries. Officers should be expected to control a situation without using deadly force except as a last resort.
Source: 2018 Minnesota governor campaign website TinaLiebling.com
May 2, 2017
Tina Liebling:
More treatment courts; lower barriers to re-entry after jail
Too many inmates have substance abuse disorder or other mental health issues that would be better treated in another setting. Treatment courts are a step in the right direction, and we must encourage and fund these initiatives.
We also need to make sure that people who have been through the justice system can find a path back to a productive life. Lack of housing, lack of needed treatment, and lack of employment are barriers to reentry that must be addressed.
Source: 2018 Minnesota governor campaign website TinaLiebling.com
May 2, 2017
Chris Countryman:
Creative and cost effective ways to deter crime
One of the biggest problems in the state is the increase in both violent and non-violent crime. The solution to crime related issues within the state is not taking away the rights of citizens,
but rather finding creative and cost effective ways to deter the possibilities of crimes taking place.
For Alabama to stay a safe and enjoyable state for citizens to live involves the effort of every branch of state Government.
Because of this this important issue is probably one area that is constantly expanding and changing, in an attempt to stay one step ahead of the game. Together we can protect a citizens rights while protecting them and their families.
Source: 2018 Alabama Gubernatorial campaign website "testtrac2018"
Mar 15, 2017
Prasad Srinivasan:
Increase penalties for human trafficking and animal abuse
Protect individuals to ensure government works for all citizensSupported legislation to combat the state's opioid crisis- Supported legislation to strengthen human trafficking laws
- Supported the
establishment of a cancer relief fund to support firefighters afflicted by cancer from their job
- Supported increased penalties for those who are convicted of animal abuse
- Expanded dementia training requirements for nursing home staff
Source: 2018 CT Governor campaign website SrinivasanForGovernor.com
Mar 11, 2017
Marty Jackley:
Joint federal-state cooperation to reduce violent crime
Yesterday I met with President Trump, Vice President Pence and US Attorney General Sessions to discuss strengthening public safety, including addressing violent crime, human trafficking, and controlled substances from our southern borders.
As South Dakota's Attorney General and the former Chairman of the Nation's Attorneys General, I am looking forward to working with our federal partners in continuing to strengthen public safety. Law enforcement cooperation in South Dakota involving the
U.S. Attorney, Attorney General, State's Attorneys, Tribal officers, Chiefs, and Sheriffs, sets a high standard on how to better protect communities by developing task forces and sharing resources.
After our meeting, President Trump announced he
has directed the Department of Justice to work with state and local law enforcement to reduce violent crime. President Trump has also said he will bring the full force and weight of the U.S. government to combat the epidemic of human trafficking.
Source: 2018 S.D.Governor campaign website FriendsOfMartyJackley.com
Mar 3, 2017
Mark Green:
Increase penalties for assaults on police officers
Republican lawmakers met at Legislative Plaza to announce a package of proposed bills aimed at keeping law enforcement officers safe. The bills would increase the penalties for offenders convicted of assaults on officers. "The men and women of law
enforcement have come under attack in this country and it's time we, the lawmakers, take their back," said Sen. Mark Green. Green said the timing of the announcement was intentional. "Just last week over a 72-hour period across the U.S., seven
police officers were shot and one of them was killed," he said. The proposed bills elevate charges of assault on a law enforcement officer from a misdemeanor to a felony. They also classify killing or attempting to kill an officer because of their
employment as a hate crime.
All of this is a product of the Tennessee Blue Lives Matter coalition. The bills' sponsors want to be clear about the name. "This is not intended to minimize other efforts. Those efforts are important," Green said.
Source: 2018 Gubernatorial campaign website, MarkGreen4TN.com
Jan 31, 2017
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