Opposes the death penalty because it does not deter and is discriminatory against people of color and those who cannot afford competent legal counsel. Texas has one of the highest execution rates in the United States. People of color are disproportionately represented on death row in Texas. Supports the death penalty. Has been silent on the injustices of the death penalty, such as the disproportionate representation of people of color on death row.
Corporations wrongfully exploit prisoners, who are disproportionately people of color.
Prisoners are used as cheap labor to increase corporate profits. He believes that public policy should be aimed at reducing the incarceration rate through treatment and rehabilitation-not locking people up by the masses. Both encourage the growth of the corporate prison industry. The corporate-prison industry has grown tremendously under the eight years of the Clinton administration, particularly in George W. Bush's state of Texas. The commission had excluded all but Democratic and Republican candidates.