2018 MA Governor's race: on Crime


Setti Warren: More parole instead of privatization of prisons

I understand the "People's Platform" legislative proposals noted on the "ORMA Candidate Endorsement Policy" includes the "Justice is Not For Sale Act." That act includes a range of federal issues which I have not had the time to fully research to be able to endorse the federal elements but I would unequivocally oppose privatization of prisons and would veto any effort to introduce private state prisons by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I also support parole as an appropriate criminal justice tool. Finally, while not addressed by ORMA, I support the policies proposed in Massachusetts as part of the current Criminal Justice legislation proposed by Democrats in the legislature and would welcome a chance to discuss them in detail.
Source: ORMA questionnaire on 2018 Massachusetts governor race Dec 20, 2017

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

Setti Warren: Opposes federalization of police

On what he learned after having rocks thrown at him as a child in Newton: "When I think about what's happening in our country today, what's happening in the commonwealth, and the divisions that are in place right now politically with the presidential election that's occurred, I think about the fact that we've got to pushback against these policies from the Trump administration that are divisive. The Muslim Ban. The federalization of police officers. We've got to pushback against that and I have. And cuts to investments to people of moderate income. At the same time there are people who voted for President Trump that didn't vote for him for those reasons. We've got to reach out of those folks if we are going to deal with the issue of our time which I believe is economic inequality."
Source: WBUR.org on 2018 Massachusetts gubernatorial race Jun 12, 2017

  • The above quotations are from 2018 Massachusetts Gubernatorial race: debates and news coverage.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Crime.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Charlie Baker on Crime.
Candidates and political leaders on Crime:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 11, 2018