As your next Congresswoman, I support:

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• ​Creating a national database of decertified officers, so that bad actors cannot get a job a few towns over in another local police department. 

• Reparations, and would vote for H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals.

• Over 20 years ago the NRA successfully lobbied Congress to freeze funding for gun violence research. As a result funding for gun injury prevention fell by over 90%. The 116th Congress, for the first time in two decades, appropriated $25 million in federal funding for gun violence research at the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health, but I agree with groups like Moms Demand Action that more is still needed.

• Legislation doing away with and/or curbing qualified immunity. 

• Stopping the militarization of local police departments by ending the transfer of military weaponry to local police departments. 

• The federal and local efforts to end the use of carotid restraints. 

• Efforts to create a duty for officers to intervene if they witness a fellow officer using excessive force. 

• Ensuring law enforcement officers receive high-quality mental health and trauma support services following any use of a weapon, in combination with a transparent investigation into those incidents.

• Criminal justice reform because our current system, due to systemic racism, disproportionately affects black and brown communities. I support:

  •  Restoring voting rights for formerly incarcerated individuals; 

  • Legalizing marijuana and expunging non-violent marijuana offenses;

  • Eliminating the 1994 Crime Bill’s mandatory minimums and three strikes laws, so judges have more discretion on a case-by- case basis;

  • Ending cash bail; 

  • Strengthening our foster care system (a disproportionate number of individuals in the foster care system end up in the    criminal justice system);

  • Ending the War on Drugs, and instead treat drug addiction as a public health issue; 

  • Ending the death penalty;

  • Banning the box on employment application forms, making it easier for formerly incarcerated individuals to find               employment and reducing the likelihood of recidivism;

• Promoting non-armed responses to certain 911 calls, by establishing partnerships between advocates, mediators, mental           health units, and other first responders, including crisis intervention services by medics, counselors, homeless advocates, and   social workers, rather than armed police officers.

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The night is darkest before the dawn. The era of white supremacy, systemic racism, xenophobia, and jingoism will end. Together, we must make this a reality as we continue the great American experiment and move toward a more perfect union.

The above are my ideas. I will continue to listen to voices of color. I would love to hear your input. What policies do you think will save black and brown lives?  Email me at info@ackerman4congress.us