Writer and United States civil rights activist, Shaun King, has announced plans to establish a political action committee geared toward electing “reform-minded prosecutors” in U.S. cities and counties. Titled the Real Justice PAC, the committee intends to raise over US$1 million for the cause.
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The funds will then be donated to campaigns run by progressive candidates seeking to become district attornies in the next election cycle.
“No position in America, no single individual has a bigger impact on the criminal justice system ― including police brutality, but the whole crisis of mass incarceration in general ― than your local district attorney. They are the gatekeepers of America’s justice system,” King said on Thursday.
The committee will also compare the track record of previous and current district attorneys as it relates to their rulings on criminal justice issues.
“That’s a smarter way and a safer way for us to make an assessment. Many people are running under the guise of being Democrats in these DA (district attorney) races, and that has next to no value,” King commented.
King's large social media following, coupled with the experience of working with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign as an organizer, are expected to give the campaign a significant boost in achieving its goals, according to the Huffington Post.
King, for his part, believes that the committee will serve as an essential tool to help combat racism and the prison industrial complex in the age of U.S. President Donald Trump.
With over two million inmates, the United States tops the list of countries with the largest prison population, according to the World Prison Brief. Even more dramatic is the racial disparities present in U.S. incarceration rates. The Sentencing Project reveals that one in every 10 Black men in their thirties is in prison or jail on any given day. It also details that Indigenous youth in the United States are three times as likely as white youth to be held in a juvenile detention center.