In his more than three decades as a senator, Biden was a tough-on-crime Democrat who could be impatient with concerns about the societal dynamics that contribute to crime, and he championed the 1994 crime bill that many experts now associate with mass incarceration.
That history has presented a challenge for Biden as he mounts his third bid for the presidency, with many progressives questioning his commitment to reforming a criminal justice system that disproportionately ensnares people of color.
But Tuesday, Biden, the former vice president, introduced a wide-ranging criminal justice reform proposal that his campaign said sought to reduce incarceration, and the toll it takes on poor communities and communities of color, at every stage, from addressing “underlying factors” that start as early as childhood to calling for the elimination of the death penalty.
Biden’s proposal includes plans to address societal dynamics that affect children and are linked with crime and future incarceration, along with a heavy emphasis on reforming the juvenile justice system.
In proposals that would aim to reverse the legacies of the 1994 crime bill, Biden called for eliminating discrepancies in sentencing between powder and crack cocaine and for the elimination of mandatory minimum sentencing. He also called for an end to cash bail.
And the plan supports eliminating the death penalty through legislation at the federal level and incentives at the state level, a position that is a sharp departure from the position that Biden vocally embraced in the 1990s and throughout his Senate career.
The proposal calls for empowering the Justice Department to “root out unconstitutional or unlawful policing” and for an independent task force focused on prosecutorial discretion.
For people who are re-entering society after serving prison sentences, Biden sets a goal of “ensuring” that all formerly incarcerated people have housing when they are released. That initiative would start with instructing the Department of Housing and Urban Development to “only contract with entities that are open to housing individuals looking for a second chance,” as well as increasing funding for transitional housing.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.