PRESSLEY, ADVOCATES RE-INTRODUCE COMPREHENSIVE ‘PEOPLE’S JUSTICE GUARANTEE’ BILL PACKAGE TO TRANSFORM CRIMINAL LEGAL SYSTEM
March 11, 2021
Black Star News
In close partnership with advocates, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) today re-introduced the People’s Justice Guarantee (PJG) – a comprehensive, decarceration-focused resolution that outlines a framework for a fair, equitable and just legal system.
The resolution calls for an ongoing and participatory “peoples process” that centers the dignity and expertise of those impacted by the broken carceral state.
“In this moment, we have an opportunity and responsibility to pursue bold, structural reforms that shift resources away from institutions that perpetuate brutality and injustice and invest in solutions that promote community safety and center the dignity and humanity of all people,” Pressley said. “The People’s Justice Guarantee offers a vision of true justice, healing and accountability. It would reduce our prison population and finally usher in an era of mass decarceration. Creating a just legal system is a matter of political will—plain and simple—and it’s time we demonstrate the courage necessary to make it a reality.”
The United States criminal legal system has institutionalized a culture of cruelty, disproportionately harming Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities. Overcriminalization, police violence, and mass incarceration are the byproducts of decades of policy violence rooted in a fundamentally flawed approach to public safety. Because our laws fail to provide the necessary resources to ensure all people have their basic needs met, the criminal legal system continually destabilizes the lives of millions, traumatizes families, and decimates entire communities.