THE PLATFORM

Families, formerly incarcerated people, and allies are currently drafting the People's platform which sets out demands for transformation of the criminal legal system. Organizations and community members are signing the platform to show District Attorney candidates that these demands are the will of the people, those who will vote them into or out of office. We will use this power to pressure DA candidates to adopt our People's platform and to commit to concrete changes within the first 100 days of office. We will be there to hold them accountable to their promise.

STOP TARGETING BLACK, BROWN, INDIGENOUS, AND IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES
Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Immigrant communities are disproportionately affected at every step in the system. They are more likely to be stopped by police, detained pretrial, charged with more serious crimes, and sentenced more harshly. We want a DA who will commit to ending the disproportionate harm caused to communities of color by the criminal legal system.

DECLINE TO PROSECUTE INDIVIDUALS WITH MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS
Prisons and jails are being used to cage people with mental health conditions instead of providing them care in their communities. We want a DA who will always decline to prosecute individuals with mental health conditions and support funding for trauma-informed, community-based treatment and diversion programs that function outside of the criminal legal system.

HOLD POLICE AND PROSECUTORS ACCOUNTABLE
The system of policing in the United States has carried out a long history of enacting violence and racism against community members with veritable impunity. We want a DA who supports the complete transformation of a system that targets and endangers communities rather than keeping them safe. DAs must hold police officers accountable for brutality, murder, and misconduct and must demand transparency and ethical behavior from their prosecutors.

TREAT KIDS LIKE KIDS
Traumatic interactions with the criminal legal system and law enforcement hinder the development of kids and youth and harm their futures. We want a DA who is committed to ending the school to prison pipeline by supporting the repeal of Measure 11, discouraging the presence of law enforcement officers at schools, and always declining to prosecute youth for misdemeanors and school-based arrests.

COMMIT TO ENDING MASS INCARCERATION
Prosecutors are a primary driver of mass incarceration in Oregon and across the United States by pushing plea deals and supporting mandatory minimum sentencing. A DA’s success is measured by their number of convictions and guilty pleas. We want a DA who prioritizes decarceration and who supports the reallocation of funds to community-based programs to address root causes of why people are criminalized and ultimately may become incarcerated.

DECRIMINALIZE HOUSELESSNESS, SEX WORK, AND DRUG USE
Criminalizing drug use, sex work, and houselessness harms our most marginalized neighbors and criminalizes their means of survival. We want a DA who acknowledges the harm that the “War on Drugs” and “tough on crime” policies have had on communities of color and poor and working class communities. We want a DA who will always decline to prosecute crimes of survival.