State Rep Jose Batista is out with a proposal to reduce the level of incarceration in drug cases. He wants to decriminalize what he characterizes as “simple possession laws” and instead make treatment rather than jailing the solution to rampant drug use.
“Reforming our criminal justice system is an enormous task that is, realistically, going to take a lot of effort. We’re chipping away at outdated, failed approaches that impact communities like mine the hardest. I see these two bills as some of the bigger ‘chips’ that would go a long way toward helping people get on the right paths, rather than pushing them further along their downward spiral,” said Representative Batista. “Locking people up for minor violations or for their addiction creates lasting economic and social problems for them and for whole communities. Shifting our resources away from incarceration and toward alleviating poverty and advancing opportunities through education and employment would be in our state’s long term economic and social justice interests.”
You will recall that the Providence Democrat had introduced legislation for a statewide body camera program.
(Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
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