The “tough-on-crime” approach to criminal justice has been a massive failure. Instead of reducing crime, it has led to the mass incarceration of people of color and low-income people. I favor an approach to criminal justice that is both rehabilitative and restorative, where we address crime by attacking its socio-economic roots rather than the communities it harms.
 

One of the best ways to begin to end mass incarceration would be to legalize marijuana for adult-use in Virginia, and expunge past convictions that have historically targeted Black and Latino communities. While states across the country have seen impressive results from legalization efforts, Virginia continues to arrest more and more people for marijuana possession each year. This clogs up our criminal justice system and creates financial and legal complications for thousands of young people who have done nothing wrong.
 

Reforming or ending cash bail entirely should be a top priority for criminal justice reform. Too often, Virginians who have never been convicted of a crime are sent to jail simply because they are poor. That time spent in jail away from their job and their home often puts families through financial ruin. A justice system where your personal wealth decides the privileges you get is not one that can be called fair.
 

Other criminal justice priorities include:
 

• Dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline by reforming discipline and law enforcement practices in schools and recognizing racial discrimination.
   

• Ending the use of private prisons in the Virginia justice system.
   

• Raising the felony larceny threshold so the law can’t be used against low-level offenders who are most often low-income and people of color.
   

• Banning the practice of solitary confinement in Virginia’s prisons.
   

• Abolishing the death penalty in Virginia.
   

• Reimagining juvenile detention to be a community-centered, rehabilitative experience by ensuring child offenders are housed in facilities near their families that offer educational and economic opportunities.
   

• Holding law enforcement accountable for wrong-doing.