Sen. Bernie Sanders would legalize "safe injection sites" where people can use illegal drugs under medical supervision. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images 2020 elections Sanders unveils proposal for massive overhaul of criminal justice system

Bernie Sanders, who was criticized by liberal activists in 2016 for not focusing more on racial injustice, is unveiling a sweeping plan on Sunday aimed at slashing the country’s prison population in half and ridding the criminal justice system of "institutional racism and corporate profiteering."

The ambitious, nearly 6,000-word proposal seeks to remake the nation’s prisons, police departments, courts, drug laws and treatment of people who have mental illnesses with a full-throated progressive agenda. Sanders’ left-wing allies have argued he has "evolved" in recent years on the issue of criminal justice.


The plan calls for banning cash bail, solitary confinement and civil asset forfeiture, which allows law enforcement officials to seize people’s homes and other property even if they are not convicted of a crime. The plan also looks to legalize marijuana and abolish the death penalty, a practice Sanders has long opposed.

The Vermont senator would legalize "safe injection sites" where people can use illegal drugs under medical supervision, a controversial practice that has been shown in several studies to curb the number of overdose deaths.

Sanders' proposal promises the attorney general will investigate every time a person is killed in police custody. He would also establish a "Prisoner Bill of Rights," create a “civilian corps of unarmed first responders” to deal with mental health emergencies, and boost funding for public defenders.

The proposal comes as Sanders is making a two-day swing through South Carolina, the first state in the nation where African Americans cast a majority of votes in the primary. Former Vice President Joe Biden has dominated the Southern state in recent surveys, with Sanders typically polling behind him in a distant second.

Sanders’ campaign said he will outline his new criminal justice plan in a speech Sunday afternoon at a town hall in the Greenview neighborhood of Columbia.

"If we stand together, we can eliminate private prisons and detention centers. No more profiteering from locking people up," Sanders is expected to say, according to a copy of his planned remarks. "If we stand together, we can end the disastrous War on Drugs. If we stand together, we can end cash bail. No more keeping people in jail because they’re too poor. If we stand together, we can enact real police department reform and prosecute police brutality."

Many of Sanders’ proposals would require the passage of legislation as well as cooperation from local and state governments. His plan lays out a series of carrots and sticks aimed at cajoling officials into adopting his strategies: For instance, he said he would withhold federal funding from states that utilize cash bail and give grants to those that reduce their pretrial detention populations.

Sanders has praised Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, one of the most progressive and controversial prosecutors in the nation, for his decision to stop seeking bail for low-level offenses. Krasner and Sanders appeared together at a criminal justice roundtable in 2018.

Sanders has criticized mass incarceration for decades, and in 2016, he promised to end private prisons if elected president.

His new plan is likely to draw criticism from police unions. One of his recommendations is to establish a list of "disreputable" federal law enforcement officials who cannot be called to testify in court so "testimony from untrustworthy sources does not lead to criminal convictions." He also wants to ban facial recognition software in policing as well as put a moratorium on the utilization of algorithmic risk assessment tools.