I resuscitated one of my sons after an overdose. Court, Biden must push prevention sites.
OCT. 7, 2021 – The overdose epidemic has raged during the pandemic, underscoring the failure of our nation’s drug policies and the need for urgent federal action. Both the Supreme Court and the Biden administration have an opportunity to save lives by supporting overdose prevention sites, where people can receive life-saving care and access treatment and resources. In this USA Today op-ed, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, FJP Executive Director Miriam Krinsky, and Dr. Bonnie Milas – who lost two sons to drug overdose – highlight why federal leadership is critical to implementing the proven harm reduction strategies that can address this crisis.
“Americans are struggling with drug addiction on an unimaginable scale. Far too many are dying unnecessarily…. While new public health approaches can’t bring back the many sons and daughters already lost, they can save other children and keep other parents from pain and loss.”
Texas’ voting restrictions are a threat to public safety
AUG. 31, 2021 – Efforts to suppress people’s fundamental right to vote threaten public safety by undermining trust in government and diverting limited resources to address a nonexistent problem. In an Austin American Statesman op-ed, FJP Executive Director Miriam Krinsky and Texas District Attorney José Garza (Travis County) condemn the passage of legislation in Texas that unnecessarily restricts voting rights.
“[W]e’re saddened to see this erosion of voting rights based on misinformation, and in ways that damage civil rights, communities of color, and economic opportunity…. Laws that restrict and criminalize voting erode trust in government and waste limited law enforcement resources, thereby undermining public safety.”
Voters want progressive prosecutors. Biden must follow through on promise to guide reform.
AUG. 22, 2021 – Across the country, communities aren’t buying the “tough on crime” policies of the past and are instead doubling down on programs and leaders confronting the causes of crime and investing in preventing violence before it occurs. In this USA Today op-ed, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, and FJP Executive Director Miriam Krinsky discuss why President Biden must create lasting change to our criminal legal system by building on this community-based movement and investing in prosecution reform through a Presidential Task Force on 21st Century Prosecution.
“Communities are rejecting fear-based narratives for evidence-based solutions and flocking to the polls with a hunger for systemic transformation. It’s time for the president and national leaders to heed this call and invest in prosecutorial innovation that can make the criminal legal system more fair and just for all communities and leave America safer.”
DAs have discretion. Use it to decline prosecution in cases that target trans community.
JULY 15, 2021 – In response to the record-breaking number of deeply disturbing anti-trans bills introduced around the country in 2021, Durham County, NC District Attorney Satana Deberry, Kauai County, HI Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar, and FJP Executive Director Miriam Krinsky co-authored this USA Today op-ed discussing the obligation of law enforcement leaders and prosecutors to stand together in opposing these dangerous bills that put trans people at risk and undermine public safety.
“The trans community poses no threat to public safety but anti-trans laws do. And enforcing laws that demonize and dehumanize trans people would be a betrayal of the obligation of prosecutors to serve as ‘ministers of justice.’”
Mr. President, keep your promise on the death penalty
JUNE 30, 2021 – The criminal legal system is capable of punishing tragic crimes harshly and protecting communities without the use of the death penalty, which is rife with racial disparities and runs the risk of executing the innocent. In this op-ed in The Washington Post, Arlington County and the City of Falls Church, VA Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine, and FJP Executive Director Miriam Krinsky argue that President Biden must end the federal death penalty without exception, beginning with commuting all federal death row sentences.
“It is our duty to ensure that our limited criminal justice resources are used to keep people safe. The death penalty does not. There is no credible evidence that it deters murder. We must stop wasting taxpayer dollars on an ineffective punishment that does little more than compound racial and social injustice.”