‘Squad’ member’s bill bans life terms, lets transgenders choose male or female prison

A resolution introduced Nov. 14 by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and called “The People’s Justice Guarantee,” reads more like the “Making Life Easier for Criminals Act.”

The proposal advocates sweeping changes to the U.S. criminal justice system, including allowing “transgender individuals to be housed in a facility that conforms with their gender identity.”

As far as that goes, why not freedom for convicted criminals who “identify” as not guilty?

Other features of the resolution include a ban on life sentences without parole, an assault weapons ban and decriminalizing prostitution.

“For far too long, those closest to the pain have not been closest to the power, resulting in a racist, xenophobic, rogue, and fundamentally flawed criminal legal system,” said a press release from Pressley, known as one of the infamous “squad” of nonwhite Democratic women pulling their party sharply leftward.

Pressley’s plan would also give incarcerated people the right to vote, repeal federal laws that criminalize illegal immigration, require inmates who are working to be paid no less than federal minimum wage and increase support for inmates re-entering society. It would also ban “private companies from profiting from the operation of prisons, jails, and immigration detention facilities, including food services, financial services, commissaries, and medical care,” among many other proposals.

In addition to issues that obviously relate to criminal justice, Pressley’s resolution pushes Democratic issues that don’t directly relate to criminal justice, including the Green New Deal, a $15 minimum wage, reparations for slavery and the repeal of the Hyde Amendment — a provision in federal law that prevents federal funding from going toward abortion.

A slew of progressive organizations lined up behind the proposal.