Former Veep Joe Biden releases extended "Plan for Strengthening America’s Commitment to Justice"

As reported in this new Washington Post piece, headlined "Biden announces criminal justice policy sharply at odds with his ’94 crime law," the former Vice President and now Dem nominee front-runner Joe Biden has today release a big bold criminal justice reform plan that is new in various ways.  The Post piece provides some highlights and context, and it starts this way:

Former vice president Joe Biden, who has faced criticism from liberals for spearheading a 1994 law when he was a senator that cracked down on criminals, announced a proposal Tuesday that would eliminate the death penalty and embrace other changes at odds with that earlier legislation.

The Democratic presidential candidate would aim to pass legislation to abolish the death penalty at the federal level and offer incentives to states to follow suit, his new plan says. Convicted criminals who would face execution under current law would instead be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Biden’s plan also would decriminalize marijuana and expunge past cannabis-related convictions; end the disparity between sentences for powder and crack cocaine; and do away with all incarceration for drug use alone. In addition, it would create a $20 billion grant program to spur states to move from incarceration to crime prevention and eliminate mandatory-minimum sentences.

Attitudes about race and criminal justice have changed significantly over the years in both parties, partly as a result of decreasing crime rates. Democrats in particular have moved sharply away from ideas that give greater powers to the police and prosecutors, instead committing to addressing inequities that they say have damaged minority communities.

The release of Biden’s criminal justice plan comes about a week before the next round of televised Democratic primary debates, when his record is expected to come under renewed scrutiny. His support for the 1994 crime bill has been criticized by both Republicans and Democrats, who argue that it led to mass incarceration and tilted the system unfairly against African Americans.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), one of Biden’s rivals for the Democratic nomination, offered a preview Monday morning of what is expected to come on the debate stage. “It’s not enough to tell us what you’re going to do for our communities, show us what you’ve done for the last 40 years,” Booker wrote on Twitter. “You created this system. We’ll dismantle it.”

The full "Biden Plan for Strengthening America’s Commitment to Justice" is available at this link, and it merits a read in full because it has a number of interesting elements. Here are a few excerpts from the start and from parts that caught my eye (without links and formatting):

Today, too many people are incarcerated in the United States — and too many of them are black and brown.  To build safe and healthy communities, we need to rethink who we’re sending to jail, how we treat those in jail, and how we help them get the health care, education, jobs, and housing they need to successfully rejoin society after they serve their time.  As president, Joe Biden will strengthen America’s commitment to justice and reform our criminal justice system.

The Biden Plan for Strengthening America’s Commitment to Justice is based on several core principles:

-- We can and must reduce the number of people incarcerated in this country while also reducing crime. No one should be incarcerated for drug use alone. Instead, they should be diverted to drug courts and treatment.  Reducing the number of incarcerated individuals will reduce federal spending on incarceration.  These savings should be reinvested in the communities impacted by mass incarceration....

-- Our criminal justice system cannot be just unless we root out the racial, gender, and income-based disparities in the system.... 

-- Our criminal justice system must be focused on redemption and rehabilitation. Making sure formerly incarcerated individuals have the opportunity to be productive members of our society is not only the right thing to do, it will also grow our economy....

-- Create a new $20 billion competitive grant program to spur states to shift from incarceration to prevention.  To accelerate criminal justice reform at the state and local levels, Biden will create a new grant program inspired by a proposal by the Brennan Center.  States, counties, and cities will receive funding to invest in efforts proven to reduce crime and incarceration, including efforts to address some of the factors like illiteracy and child abuse that are correlated with incarceration.  In order to receive this funding, states will have to eliminate mandatory minimums for non-violent crimes, institute earned credit programs, and take other steps to reduce incarceration rates without impacting public safety....

-- Establish an independent Task Force on Prosecutorial Discretion.  Law enforcement officials’ decisions regarding when to arrest, when to charge, and what charges to bring are critical decision-points in our criminal justice system.  The charges, for example, can dramatically impact not only what sentence someone ends up with but also whether they are compelled to take a plea bargain.  The Biden Administration will create a new task force, placed outside of the U.S. Department of Justice, to make recommendations for tackling discrimination and other problems in our justice system that results from arrest and charging decisions....

-- Eliminate mandatory minimums. Biden supports an end to mandatory minimums. As president, he will work for the passage of legislation to repeal mandatory minimums at the federal level. And, he will give states incentives to repeal their mandatory minimums.

-- End, once and for all, the federal crack and powder cocaine disparity.  The Obama-Biden Administration successfully narrowed the unjustified disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences.  The Biden Administration will eliminate this disparity completely, as then-Senator Biden proposed in 2007.  And, Biden will ensure that this change is applied retroactively.

-- Decriminalize the use of cannabis and automatically expunge all prior cannabis use convictions.  Biden believes no one should be in jail because of cannabis use.  As president, he will decriminalize cannabis use and automatically expunge prior convictions.  And, he will support the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes, leave decisions regarding legalization for recreational use up to the states, and reschedule cannabis as a schedule II drug so researchers can study its positive and negative impacts.

-- End all incarceration for drug use alone and instead divert individuals to drug courts and treatment. Biden believes that no one should be imprisoned for the use of illegal drugs alone. Instead, Biden will require federal courts to divert these individuals to drug courts so they receive treatment to address their substance use disorder. He’ll incentivize states to put the same requirements in place. And, he’ll expand funding for federal, state, and local drug courts.

-- Eliminate the death penalty. Over 160 individuals who’ve been sentenced to death in this country since 1973 have later been exonerated. Because we cannot ensure we get death penalty cases right every time, Biden will work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level, and incentivize states to follow the federal government’s example.  These individuals should instead serve life sentences without probation or parole.

-- Use the president’s clemency power to secure the release of individuals facing unduly long sentences for certain non-violent and drug crimes. President Obama used his clemency power more than any of the 10 prior presidents. Biden will continue this tradition and broadly use his clemency power for certain non-violent and drug crimes.