Issue Position: Our Justice - The Pauli Murray Plan

Issue Position

Our district is in the midst of a criminal justice renaissance. More funds are needed to support the grassroots work of organizations right here in Durham that are working to implement needed reforms. I will work with the community to keep our neighborhoods and streets safe. As your state senator, I will support and fund our NC Reentry Council, fund money bail reforms, support criminal record expungement programs, strengthen domestic violence laws, support common sense gun laws, and support our immigrant community. We must stop locking people up for non-violent and minor drug offenses. As we combat the opioid crisis, we must also stop criminalizing the use of marijuana.

In a report from the Electoral Integrity Project, North Carolina received a score of 58 out of 100 for the 2016 election. This score is comparable to nations with authoritarian regimes and pseudo-democracies, such as Cuba, Indonesia, and Sierra Leone. Further, North Carolina scored lower on voting district boundary integrity than all countries evaluated by the report, receiving a score of 7/100.

North Carolina's jail and prison incarceration rates are steadily increasing, with 160,000 people either incarcerated or under criminal justice supervision. North Carolina's incarceration rates are higher than that of the next highest five countries' incarceration rates combined. In Durham County, over 1,500 people are incarcerated. In Durham, black people make up more than 80% of the jail population, while making up only 38% of Durham's population.

As a lifelong North Carolina native, Natalie is dedicated to ensuring North Carolina is committed to justice and a fair democratic process for all citizens. She feels a deep sense of duty and obligation toward continuing the path of progress that our parents, grandparents, ancestors and so many others established. Natalie will work to set a new, progressive agenda that will help create a direction to improve life for all in the district, in Durham County, and in North Carolina.

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