We advocate for making our society less violent and punitive by continuing to reform gun laws and policing. We also believe that legalizing the buying, selling and use of most illicit drugs, as well as sex work, will decrease the criminalization of vulnerable Americans. We also want to see human trafficking prosecuted more aggressively.
Police officers have been burdened with policing more than just crime. Today, they are on the front lines of dealing with complex, generational social problems including poverty, drug buying and selling, and mental illness; but these issues must be tackled by larger forces in society, not just the criminal justice system. Officers have a mandate to protect and serve, not solve society’s intractable social problems.
With that said, the mandate to protect and serve has become more complex. To ensure today’s police forces are better prepared for today’s challenges, we need more specialized policing units that have training and knowledge in specific problems. All officers need more training and education in mental health, psychology, and sociology. One of our proposed changes is to extend the training period for police officers from the typical 6 months to 1 year, allowing for more thorough preparation.
Police officers also need more mental health support for themselves. To address concerns from loved ones about police officers, we recommend establishing an anonymous phone line where family members, spouses, or friends can express their concerns confidentially. Evaluations triggered by such calls would be conducted without prejudice, discipline, or judgment, unless clear evidence indicates otherwise. Officers that are found to lack empathy, harbor racist beliefs, or who are unfit to serve must be removed from active duty.
Legalization of Some Illicit Drugs
We advocate for the legalization of specific illicit drugs including cocaine and heroin. Our approach involves regulating and studying these drugs at a federal level to better understand their various uses and effects. The sale of previously illegal drugs would be subject to taxation. Similar to the practice with cold medications containing amphetamines, individuals buying declassified drugs deemed highly addictive, like cocaine, would be required to present identification. The use of narcotics that currently require a prescription from a qualified health professional would remain illegal without a prescription.
Another goal of decriminalization is to protect the health of users. Taxes on the sale of formerly illicit drugs would be used to support rehabilitation and mental health care programs in communities. Once drugs like cannabis, psilocybin, mescaline, and MDMA are decriminalized, federal research will be initiated to explore their potential utilization in our healthcare system, particularly for mental health care. We are aware of positive outcomes observed in the limited research conducted by various federal agencies, especially the Veterans Administration (see VA News, 2024). The aim is to establish dosing guidelines for physicians to follow. We also support needle exchange programs to prevent the spread of diseases among intravenous drug users.
Legalizing many formerly illicit drugs will have a major impact on the criminal justice system. We advocate for the immediate release of all Americans incarcerated for drug use. We would expunge all records of these convictions to prevent them from affecting employment opportunities and professional licenses. This includes individuals convicted of felony possession without intent to sell.
Another goal of legalization is to decrease violence stemming for the sale of illicit drugs. We would like the government to study and consider pardoning drug dealers who sold marijuana in certain quantities, possibly up to 50 pounds, and cocaine dealers arrested with less than an ounce. We do not support the pardons or expungements for heroin and meth dealers, except if they were convicted as users.
Legalization of Sex Work
We also advocate for the legalization of sex work. Legalization can create a safer work environment for sex workers and decrease the human trafficking of minors and adults. By legalizing sex work, we can also generate tax revenue. Mandatory STD screenings will increase the safety of sex work by ensuring safe sex is practiced. This will improve workers’ health and quality of life and decrease healthcare costs by reducing the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV.
Eliminating Private Prisons
We are in favor of eliminating the use of private prison facilities to house state and federal inmates, juvenile offenders, and those incarcerated by immigration enforcement agencies. Private prisons have been found to be less safe, pay lower salaries, and overall operate under less humane conditions (Williams, 2018).
In 2022, private prisons in the United States incarcerated 90,873 people. Private prisons continue to house about 8% of all U.S. state and federal inmates (Budd, 2024). Some states such as New York and Nevada have no private prisons, while New Mexico and Montana house more than a third of their inmates in private prisons. While the Department of Justice has directed the Bureau of Prisons (Gruberg & Jawetz, 2016) to phase out the use of private prisons for federal inmates, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) overwhelmingly uses private prison facilities (90%) to detain immigrants (Cho, 2023).
At the core of our proposal is the recognition that privatized prisons introduce a troubling dynamic into the criminal justice and immigration detention systems. By placing profit motives at the forefront, these institutions create an environment where the incentive for keeping individuals incarcerated is heightened. This profit-driven approach runs counter to the principles of justice, rehabilitation, and the protection of individual rights.
Private prison interests have lobbied lawmakers to create stricter laws and regulations in the interest of increase the private prison population (Horn, 2018). This practice undermines the integrity of the justice system and compromises the pursuit of fair sentencing and rehabilitation. The financial interests of privatized prisons can extend beyond lobbying efforts. In some instances, there have been reported cases of corruption where judges have been influenced to issue longer sentences (Weybright, 2020). Lobbying and corruption by the private prison industry not only erodes public trust in the justice system but also perpetuates the problem of mass incarceration.
Gun Safety Laws
Gun violence continues to ravage our communities from coast to coast. The problem is twofold: People are using guns to kills others, including multiple people at once (mass shooting), and people are using guns to end their own lives. We need to continue to strengthen gun safety laws to reduce the carnage. These laws work, as states with stricter safety regulations have lower percentages of gun homicides and suicides (Everytown for Gun Safety, 2024).
Safe storage is especially important when there are minors in the home or people with cognitive disabilities or dementia. Easy access to a gun increases the likelihood that an individual in distress will die by suicide, because using a gun to complete suicide is successful 90% of the time (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 2024). In 2021 firearms were used to complete a majority (55%) of suicides in the U.S., with the second leading method being suffocation (26%), and the third drug poisoning (9%) (U.S. Centers for Disease Control, 2022).
In additional to safe storage laws, the Peoples’ Union advocates for the following gun safety reforms:
- We support a federal ban on ammunition rounds such as .223 or 5.56, which are known to cause significant harm. Our focus is on eliminating access to these specific types of ammunition rather than banning the firearms themselves. Manufacturers will still be allowed to produce aesthetically appealing firearms for individuals who desire them, but these firearms will be restricted to using 9mm rounds exclusively.
- We propose offering conversion kits to owners of existing firearms that currently shoot .223 or 5.56 rounds. These conversion kits would enable these firearms to be modified to only accommodate 9mm rounds. By providing such conversion options, we aim to address concerns related to the potential harm caused by .223 and 5.56 ammunition while respecting the rights of firearm owners.
- We recommend establishing a federal minimum age of 21 for firearm ownership. However, we also recognize the importance of teaching responsible gun use and hunting traditions. Under parental supervision, minors aged 16-20 could use hunting rifles after undergoing thorough background checks and obtaining limited firearms licenses.
- We support comprehensive training and certification for individuals seeking firearm ownership. This training would cover crucial aspects such as firearm safety, responsible use, and an understanding of the legal and ethical implications of owning a gun.
- To foster greater awareness and understanding, we propose introducing gun education programs in schools. These programs would focus on responsible gun handling, the potential dangers of firearms, and the consequences of gun violence. Additionally, they would emphasize the importance of safe storage practices to prevent unauthorized access.