End poverty, end mass incarceration, and end the endless wars - these are the three planks of the Blueprint for a Better America [PDF], a 207-page legislative package backed by the American Union of swing voters in the 2022 midterms. Which candidates for Congress in the 469 Federal races will support major criminal justice reforms, in exchange for an endorsement from a key block of swing voters?

Ending mass incarceration includes an end to the federal war on drugs, as well as police and prison reform. This section is divided into three subtitles, each bearing the name of a victim of injustice.

● In general, these reforms would immediately apply to federal law enforcement officers (LEOs), with Federal Byrne grants or COPS grants withheld from states starting in October 2024, unless they enacted corresponding state laws.

● Federal LEOs would be required to take a training course establishing a clear duty to intervene when any LEO is using excessive force against a civilian, with states incentivized to mandate the same training.

● Federal LEOs would be prohibited from using deadly force, except as a last resort after de-escalation techniques and less lethal force had been attempted, and only if there was no substantial risk to third parties. States would be incentivized to enact the same policy.

● A public, searchable, national police misconduct registry would be established, making grants to states conditional on their submission of the relevant information as well as meeting national certification standards for employing LEOs.

● Chokeholds and carotid holds would become a civil rights violation, with states incentivized to do the same.

● LEO’s qualified immunity for civil rights violations would be removed, and the burden of proof for prosecuting violations would become acting “knowingly” or “recklessly,” instead of the current “willfully.”

● Civil asset forfeiture would be eliminated on the federal level, and restricted on the state level.

● Any sexual acts or sexual contact between LEOs and people in their custody would be considered sexual abuse; consent would not be a defense to criminal prosecution. States would be incentivized to enact the same policy.

● The federal use of no-knock warrants would be restricted to daytime hours, and require repeated knocking and identification before forcing entry to an occupied dwelling. States would be incentivized to enact the same policy and prohibit no-knock warrants in drug cases.

● Federal cash bail would be ended. States would be incentivized to meet decreasing annual targets for the percentage of cases where cash bail was used from 80% down to no more than 10% by 2027.

● The 1033 program, which transfers military surplus to local police departments, would be repealed.

● The Controlled Substances Act would be repealed, leaving states, which are laboratories of democracy, free to enforce or repeal their own drug laws as they see fit. Completed sentences for federal drug crimes would be expunged, and those currently incarcerated could ask for a sentence review.

● The FDA would establish purity and labeling rules for the sale of formerly illegal drugs, or "recreational intoxicating products," and a 12% sales tax would be imposed. Legitimate businesses that engage in the sale of recreational intoxicating products would no longer be prohibited from utilizing the banking system.

● A Drug War Restorative Justice Office would be established using funds from the tax to administer treatment services for substance use, legal services related to drug crimes, and services in communities most adversely impacted by the war on drugs, including job training, reentry services, literacy programs, youth recreation or mentoring programs, and health education programs.

● All mandatory minimums would be struck from the United States Code.

● The Espionage Act of 1917 would be reformed to require specific intent to cause harm, protecting whistleblowers and journalists who are often charged under this law.

● The provision of the REAL ID Act which relates to air travel would be clarified to apply only to those required by federal law to show ID as a condition of boarding a commercial aircraft.

● The use of solitary confinement as punishment would be restricted, in line with the UN’s Nelson Mandela Rules, to 15 consecutive days, or 30 days in 60. States would be incentivized to enact the same policy in two phases, by October 2024 and 2025.

● Federal prisoners would be able to request a sentence review after serving 10+ years, or for drug offenses repealed by the Act. A court could modify the sentence if they found no danger to public safety, a demonstrated readiness for reentry, and that it served the interests of justice.

The Bureau of Prisons would be required to help people leaving incarceration obtain REAL ID compliant identification and other documents.

● The Prison Litigation Reform Act, which created a higher bar for access to the legal system for the incarcerated, would be repealed, along with grant programs to the states that incentivize higher incarceration rates.

● Education being a proven way to reduce recidivism, eligibility for federal Pell grants would be restored for the incarcerated.

● Universal suffrage would establish voting privileges in federal elections for all Americans, with states incentivized to inform people convicted of a criminal offense about this provision.