The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/elections-2020/)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, ahead of Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate, released a new plan aimed at defeating white nationalist violence. Warren said she would make prosecuting hate crimes a “priority” in her administration.
Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s apology for “stop and frisk” came in for scathing criticism from current Mayor Bill de Blasio, as well as the city’s police union chief, who accused Bloomberg of inspiring an “anti-police movement.”
Unlike several of his Democratic opponents, Former Vice President Joe Biden opposes legalizing recreational marijuana, saying he wants “more evidence” on its dangers before any federal policy change. He supports medical pot.
In Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, once a national model for incarceration, Sens. Cory Booker (NJ) and Kamala Harris (CA) and former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer talked about improving the criminal justice system.
Candidates said the president had a history of racist demagogy that outweighed any efforts at criminal justice reform, including the First Step Act, which he signed last year.
Sen. Kamala Harris’s boycott of a criminal justice reform event in South Carolina over its celebration of President Donald Trump the day before resulted in the sponsor’s being removed and the California Democrat resuming her participation.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) released a proposal to legalize marijuana across the U.S. and expunge criminal convictions related to the drug, embracing an overhaul of federal laws on the eve of a presidential forum expected to renew the debate on race, drugs and police violence.
Despite her current opposition to mass incarceration, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) is fighting the perception that her 27 years as a prosecutor involved enforcing laws that sent many African Americans to prison.
Former prisoners will moderate a presidential town hall for the first time next week at the former Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. So far, only Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) have agreed to appear.
President Trump and nine candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination are expected to speak this weekend at a criminal justice forum at the historically black Benedict College in Columbia, S.C.