425: Eliza Orlins on Criminal Justice Reform

— Eliza Orlins, a Manhattan public defender with 11 years of experience, is running for Manhattan District Attorney on a criminal justice reform platform.

— The criminal legal system is deliberately designed to marginalize poor people, people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and other vulnerable groups rather than being "broken."

— Police misconduct—including false arrests, falsifying documents, and perjury—occurs with regularity and often goes unpunished due to lack of accountability and transparency (e.g., New York's repealed 50A law shielded disciplinary records).

— The war on drugs disproportionately targets people of color despite similar usage rates across races; decriminalization and treatment-based approaches, as implemented in Portugal and Oregon, reduce overdose deaths and incarceration without increasing drug use.

— Bail systems and sentencing disparities create a two-tiered justice system: wealthy defendants buy their freedom while poor defendants languish in jail pre-trial, worsening case outcomes and family destruction.

— White-collar crime and pharmaceutical misconduct (e.g., opioid crisis) receive minimal prosecution, while street-level offenses and minor theft are aggressively prosecuted.

— Support or engage with candidates for district attorney and other prosecutorial offices who commit to not prosecuting low-level drug possession and to establishing dedicated units to prosecute police misconduct.

— Recognize that bail reform, drug decriminalization, and alternatives to incarceration (safe consumption sites, treatment programs) save taxpayer money ($975/night per incarcerated person in New York City) while improving public safety and community outcomes.

— Advocate for expungement of prior drug convictions and reparations for those harmed by drug criminalization as states move toward legalization, and push for equal enforcement of laws against wealthy, white-collar offenders to match the intensity applied to street-level crime.