Equal Justice Under Law

Four words are etched above the Supreme Court: Equal Justice Under Law. Elizabeth Warren considers that’s supposed to be the promise of our justice system. But today in America, there’s one justice system for the rich and powerful, and another one for everybody else. Elizabeth Warren believes we need criminal justice reform and we need it now. That means ending racial disparities in our justice system. It means banning private prisons. It means embracing community policing and demilitarizing our local police forces. It means comprehensive sentencing reform and rewriting our laws to decriminalize marijuana. Equal justice also demands that everybody – no matter how wealthy or well-connected – is held accountable when they break the law. That means new laws and a new commitment to prosecuting giant corporations – and their leaders – when they cheat their customers, stomp out their competitors, or rob their workers. It means judicial nominees that follow the rule of law instead of catering to the wealthy and the well-connected. Warren is against capital punishment (also known as the "death penalty") and supports abolishing it in the United States. Warren also supports abolishing mandatory minimum sentencing. In August 2018, during an appearance at a Dillard University forum, Warren stated that our criminal justice system is racist. She furthered that African-Americans were disproportionately jailed for drug-related crimes while public defenders were burdened by a lack of resources and prisoners were dehumanized after their convictions. In December 2018, Warren voted for the First Step Act, legislation aimed at reducing recidivism rates among federal prisoners through expanding job training and other programs in addition to forming an expansion of early-release programs and modifications on sentencing laws such as mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, "to more equitably punish drug offenders."
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