LWV's Criminal Justice Position

Table of Contents

• LWVUS’ Criminal Justice Position: Position in Brief
• Position Background
• Before and After Position Adoption
• Advocacy
  • Opportunities
  • Preliminary Considerations
  • Issue Areas: Past Interest
  • Legislative Advocacy Examples
  • Applying a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Lens
  • Partner Note

LWVUS' Criminal Justice Position: Position in Brief

• A criminal justice system that is just, effective, equitable, transparent, and fosters public trust at all stages, including policing practices, pre-trial procedures, sentencing, incarceration, and re-entry.
• The elimination of systemic bias, including the disproportionate policing and incarceration of marginalized communities.
• Policing practices that promote safety for both law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.
• Collaboration between government and community throughout every stage of the criminal justice system.
• A focus on humane treatment and rehabilitation with the goal of promoting the successful reentry into communities of those who have been incarcerated.
• Reliance on evidence-based research in decision-making about law enforcement programs and policies (including scheduled, periodic audits of program and policy effectiveness). 

For the full position, see pages 120-122 of Impact on Issues.

Position Background

In 2018, members of the League of Women Voters of California (LWVCA) came together and formed the LWVCA Task Force on Criminal Justice Reform. The task force reviewed existing criminal justice positions from state and local Leagues, as well as evidence-based research, and drafted a broad but comprehensive criminal justice position. In 2019, at the LWVCA Convention, delegates voted to adopt the position.

At the 2020 National Convention, delegates passed a resolution on racial justice, submitted by numerous state Leagues. It resolved that:

1. “the League advocates against systemic racism in the justice system and, at a minimum, for preventing excessive force and brutality by law enforcement.” It called for “all League members to advocate within every level of government to eradicate systemic racism, and the harm that it causes; and”
2. “the League help our elected officials and all Americans recognize… that Black, Indigenous and all people of color (BIPOC) deserve equal protection under the law; and that we demand solutions for the terrible wrongs done…”

Additionally, at the 2020 Convention, LWVCA presented a caucus on the criminal justice system and democracy. Subsequently, several state Leagues concurred with LWVCA’s criminal justice position or updated their respective positions.

Through the 2022-2024 Program Planning process, a majority of Leagues recommended LWVUS concurrence with LWVCA’s criminal justice position, and the LWVUS Board recommended concurrence to convention delegates.  At the 2022 National Convention, delegates adopted the position on Criminal Justice by concurrence.

Before and After Position Adoption

Before LWVUS adopted the Criminal Justice position, Leagues advocated for related issues using their own positions, such as on criminal or juvenile justice. In the summer of 2020 in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, many Leagues sought to take action in their communities against policy positions that promoted violence and conflict between police and the people they serve. At that time, LWVUS advised that Leagues use the LWVUS positions of Individual Liberties and Equality of Opportunity to stand up for racial justice in policing.

Adoption of the national Criminal Justice position will facilitate Leagues working on a broad range of criminal justice issues at all levels of government. It also reaffirms the League's commitment to the eradication of systemic racism in the justice system, and to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

Advocacy

Opportunities

Like advocacy work on many of the League’s other issue areas, there are numerous ways to engage in work on criminal justice including: 

• Educating the public on issues, legislation, and policies (e.g. one-pagers, webinars); 
• Joining partner sign-on letters; 
• Writing to your elected officials; 
• Delivering legislative testimony; 
• Submitting evidence-based legislative solution recommendations; and 
• Harnessing your membership’s collective power with action alerts and/or Outreach Circle.

Preliminary Considerations

If you are doing work in the criminal justice space for the first time and trying to identify priority areas for advocacy, observe the local justice system’s power dynamics and consider^[1]: 

• Who are the key stakeholders? 
• Who has the power to shape reform? 
• Who is responsible for system oversight? 
• How are system actors held accountable? 
• Is this process transparent? 

^[1] From an LWVCA presentation on position implementation at the state and local levels.

Issue Areas: Past Interest

When identifying areas of interest, you may consider areas on which Leagues have worked in the past using their own state or local positions, existing national positions, or a state League concurrence with LWVCA’s criminal justice position. These include: 

• Police bias, misconduct, and accountability; 
• Officer self-identification; 
• Use of force; 
• Qualified immunity; 
• Bail reform and fine/fee burden; 
• School-to-prison pipeline; 
• Juvenile justice; 
• Non-violent offenders and addiction; 
• Private prisons; 
• Voting rights restoration; 
• Death penalty abolition; and 
• Language translation and immigration.

Legislative Advocacy: Examples

Many Leagues have done legislative advocacy on criminal justice. Looking at LWVCA as an example, it has used the Criminal Justice position to advocate in support of: 

• The California Racial Justice Act, which prevents the state from seeking or obtaining a criminal sentence or conviction on the basis of race, ethnicity, or national origin. It also enables a person charged or convicted of a crime to challenge racial bias in the case. 
• Establishing a process to automatically decertify officers fired for serious misconduct such as excessive force, sexual misconduct, and dishonesty, and requires local law enforcement agencies to report fired officers to the state. 
• Broadening the definition of “profiling” and creating a system for collecting and reporting law enforcement pedestrian stops. 
• Elevating the standard for law enforcement officers to use deadly force when “reasonable” to only when “necessary” to save human life, and requiring consideration of whether an officer used de-escalation leading up to the use of deadly force.  
• Allowing a county Board of Supervisors or a vote of residents to establish a sheriff oversight board, and giving it subpoena power. 
• Expanding the categories of officer personnel records that must be available to the public.

Applying a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Lens

The Criminal Justice position was designed with the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In order to apply DEI principles in the position’s application, it’s important to examine your work through a DEI lens.  

Applying a DEI lens is a way of examining a program, process, product, or otherwise with an eye toward how it will be perceived by a variety of communities, voices, and perspectives, and what barriers may exist that prevent it from being equitable or inclusive to everyone. We recommend Leagues apply a DEI lens to any position that they utilize. When examining your work through a DEI lens you should ask these key questions:

Who is involved in the process? 

Leagues should consider whether this work impacts a group or community, if the voice of the impacted community is represented, and how diverse the group of decision-makers who represent a variety of relevant viewpoints is. 

Who will be impacted?

Leagues should consider who benefits or could be harmed, whether it helps meet the needs of underserved voters, how we consider various, specific marginalized groups, and how they’ll be impacted. 

What are the likely intended and unintended outcomes?

Leagues should consider the issue we are trying to address, what we hope will happen, the potential negative impacts, who could be hurt by this, the supporting data or evidence, and how it might be perceived by others. 

Does this align with our vision for an equitable and inclusive organization?

Leagues should consider how equity is addressed, what barriers it might place in the way of achieving equity, and how it impacts the organization’s culture.

What changes could we make to improve equity?

Leagues should consider the short- and long-term goals, policies or bylaws that need to be added or amended, the benefits to members, and the benefits for partners and/or members of the community.

For more information on applying a DEI lens to your work, see pages 3-4 of Impact on Issues.

Partner Note

Like much of its work on emerging issues, LWVUS does a lot of its criminal justice work in coalition, often serving as an ally to expert partners. By joining coalitions and partnering with groups that have been working to root out racism in the justice system, or community organizations focused on individuals with lived expertise, you can use League power to support existing efforts and help uplift the voices of individuals, families, and communities directly impacted by the criminal justice system.