- Abolish the death penalty. It has shown zero ability to deter crime, it costs much, much more than life in prison, and at minimum 4% of those executed are objectively innocent. There's zero valid reason to perform the death penalty if it fails to be either accurate or a deterrent, and it fails both.
- Stop making jokes that normalize prison rape. I know most people are on-board now with how tasteless these have been, but it really is gross the extent to which we've normalized extrajudicial punishment in jails as a society, let alone rape.
- Allow felons the right to vote even while serving their sentence. Not only are those convicted often innocent, but even if they weren't, they still deserve to have a say in how their life gets governed just like the rest of us. Disenfranchising prisoners and felons simply leads to worse treatment of prisoners. It also isolates them further from society, making it just that bit harder to reintegrate.
- Stop using prisoners as slave labor. In the long-term, amend out the part of the 13th Amendment that lets us do that.
- Socialize prisons. Private companies having their hands in this isn't good for the taxpayer, and it definitely isn't good for the prisoners. This includes even small but impactful things like price gouging prisoners for calls to their families and friends.
- Stop sending drug users to jail. At worst for destructive drugs, treat it as a public health issue and enforce some sort of treatment regimen if caught.
- Take some of the excessive funds given to the police and put them toward social services which improve people's lives and the community to reduce the chances they fall into crime to begin with. An ounce of prevention, etc.
- Make prison more like the outside world. Rigid standardization is still good for reform, but by giving prisoners a basic standard of living, you reduce recidivism and make prisons dramatically safer.
- Stop using cash bail. Either someone belongs on the street or they don't, and pre-existing financial situation should never determine that.
- End bans on government benefits for felons released from prison. These are arguably the people who need help to get back on their feet the most.