Supporters of presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg's Douglass Plan say it offers comprehensive solutions to strengthen everything from black homeownership to health care. (FILE/ASSOCIATED PRESS) ▲

For most law students, the bar exam is a challenge. For my father, it was a reminder.

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.

Second, the plan would improve conditions in prisons and among prisoners. My father wrote the historic decision ending the use of the electric chair in Florida, and I'm gratified to see that the Douglass Plan calls for a constitutional amendment to abolish the death penalty entirely — exactly the sort of bold push we need to end this inhumane practice for good.

The Douglass plan would also dramatically limit the use of solitary confinement. Just as importantly, Mayor Pete is committed to giving incarcerated individuals the tools to reform and rehabilitate, from ending the loophole that denies Medicaid to the incarcerated to restoring their access to Pell Grants. This is important for everyone: Studies have shown that access to postsecondary education while incarcerated reduces the likelihood of recidivism and increases the chance of finding a job and contributing to our economy.

Third, it would help empower formerly incarcerated people to fully integrate into society upon release. That means taking steps like "banning the box" on application forms that makes it difficult to get a job upon release. It means increasing tax credits and bond insurance to incentivize employers to hire the formerly incarcerated. And it means restoring voting rights to the more than 6 million Americans with felony convictions — as Floridians overwhelmingly approved with Amendment 4 — without the bureaucratic hurdles that could stop hundreds of thousands from registering to vote. We can't expect people to successfully reintegrate into their communities when we refuse to give them the same rights and opportunities as their friends and neighbors.

Finally, the Douglass Plan would minimize police overreach by bringing fewer people into the criminal justice system in the first place. It calls for greater transparency and accountability through tools like body cameras, laws to raise the standard for the use of force, and enhanced civilian oversight. Critically, the Douglass Plan would invest in mental health, so that police officers do not also have to serve as social workers. And it would lift up departments that build strong ties with their communities.

In 2018, as the first African-American nominee for Florida Attorney General, I traveled all across the state campaigning to expand rights for consumers and hold politicians and special interests accountable. More than 3 million Floridians voted for our bold agenda — more than had ever voted for a candidate for attorney general before 2018. We may have fallen short in that election, but in 2020 we have an opportunity to continue that work. Let's elect a president who will right the wrongs of our past and build a brighter future for every American.

The writer is Florida's first black attorney general nominee. This weekend he is traveling throughout the state - including Augusta - to hold listening sessions and attend organizing events.