The of black men in America is unacceptable. The status-quo of racist politics, policies, and institutions is unacceptable. There is no easy solution to solving these problems, but doing nothing is unacceptable. While the President’s words and actions are especially corrosive, no issue escapes the influence of racism -- healthcare, education, housing, climate change, the list goes on and on. But racism is especially felt in our criminal justice system. David Buchwald knows we must do more. In Congress, Buchwald will fight for critical criminal justice reforms, from reining in police misconduct and brutality, to ending mass incarceration. 

David Buchwald’s criminal justice platform includes: 

• Mandate independent reviews of all police-related shootings and deaths nationwide to ensure law enforcement is held accountable by outside monitors.   
• Abolish private prisons that put profits over people.
• End mandatory minimums that disproportionately target people of color. 
• Support broad clemency and parole for individuals convicted of nonviolent crimes or crimes committed as juveniles. 
• Ban the box and expunge low-level drug offenses so individuals can successfully gain employment.
• Invest in public defenders’ offices to ensure every American’s 6th Amendment right to counsel is upheld. 
• Repeal the vast majority of the 1994 Crime Bill, helping dismantle much of the system that promotes systematic mass incarceration.  
• Call on the U.S. Department of Justice to rigorously collect data studying the disparate racial effects of policing. 
• Cease stop and frisk policies in law enforcement departments around the country 
• Discontinue the death penalty, an ineffective, immoral, and out-dated punishment, for all except the most heinous crimes like terrorism. 

David Buchwald has been unafraid to take on his own party leadership to pass important reforms and fight for what’s right. He supports repealing 50-a, and has supported efforts here in New York State to decriminalize marijuana and voted to make it easier for former prisoners to vote by mail. In Congress, he’ll keep that reformer-mentality and fight for real change in our criminal justice system.