Sean Shaw, FL's 1st black AG nominee: Buttigieg plan would transform criminal justice system

[femmedem]

"My father, Leander Shaw Jr., sat for the exam at the old DuPont Plaza hotel in Miami, at the height of the Jim Crow South. People stared. Hotel management was called. Eventually, it was decided that my father and others like him would take the exam in a separate room from the white bar applicants. Afterwards, he was not allowed to stay or eat at the hotel. But my father passed that exam, becoming a law professor, a public defender, and a district attorney. Thirty years later, he became the first African-American chief justice on the Florida Supreme Court — the very judicial body that administers the state bar exam.

I have seen up close the transformation that is possible when Americans walk away from the past and into a new era of possibility. That’s why I announced in May that I’m supporting Mayor Pete Buttigieg for president. And with the recent release of his Douglass Plan for Black America, it is clearer than ever that Mayor Pete is putting forward the bold, progressive vision we need to remedy America’s legacy of racial injustice and build an economy and a society in which everyone can succeed — regardless of their race, income or geography.

The Douglass Plan offers comprehensive solutions to strengthen everything from black homeownership to health care. And for our criminal justice system, Mayor Pete’s plan would be nothing short of transformational.

First, the Douglass Plan would cut in half the number of Americans behind bars at both the federal and state level. Shamefully, the United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. The Douglass Plan takes a number of steps to address that, from legalizing marijuana to ending mandatory minimums. In addition, by abolishing private federal prisons, reforming the bail industry, and capping the amount of revenue cities receive from criminal fines and fees, it would help ensure that our justice system puts people over profits."

More: https://www.augustachronicle.com/opinion/20190726/column-buttigieg-plan-would-transform-criminal-justice-system

[democrank]

1. Pete Buttigieg's vision is refreshing.

New voice, new approach.