WASHINGTON, DC—As rhetoric continues to heat up on the campaign trail, candidates are working hard to distinguish themselves from the others and garner media attention to increase their name and face recognition.
As criminal justice reform remains a hot issue for the upcoming presidential election, several candidates have put forth their proposals for how to reduce the over-prisonization problem in the U.S. California Senator, Kamala Harris, a democratic candidate running for president has offered a new proposal that would reduce the prison population by allowing all adult U.S. citizens one penalty-free felony.
"It's essentially a get-out-of-jail-free card," said Harris on a talk show Monday night. "The idea is, if you commit a felony, and it's your first one, you just give that card to the arresting officer, and he'll punch a hole in it so that it's no longer valid, and off you go. No inconvenient jail time, no expensive trial, no problem."
According to the details of Harris's proposal, this One Free Felony card would cover every known felony, including murder. Additionally, it is retroactive, meaning that every adult currently in jail or prison in the U.S. could use it to expunge one felony, causing the immediate release of many inmates who are not imprisoned for multiple convictions.
"What's nice about my proposal," commented Harris, "is that it really serves the people who are not career criminals. A person who's stabbed three people in drug deals gone wrong would still remain in prison for two of those stabbings. But, for that kid who just got too drunk at a bar and then couldn't help but set fire to the building, well he would get a second chance instead of facing consequences."
Harris has been criticized for the plan by pundits and other candidates, who believe that the proposal is not a serious gesture, but simply an attempt to escape her legacy as a criminal prosecutor. In response, she says that she is serious about criminal justice reform, as her plan would immediately release an estimated 400,000 prisoners, and would also get about 1.1 million people off of probation, saving millions of dollars in taxpayer money. However, critics believe that the unemployment of the prison employees and community corrections officers would generally be an unfortunate move, and they have even gone so far as to disparage the notion of releasing from culpability people who have committed crimes as egregious as rape, kidnapping, child molestation, and even murder back onto the streets with no added supervision.
"Well, you know, we all make mistakes," said Harris. "I just happen to believe that we, as compassionate citizens, should do everything to make sure that these people who were forced to commit crimes due to society's problems never have to ever face up to what they did."
Harris's proposal also includes a card with 10 punches for juveniles.
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