Policy
Zohran Mamdani’s Views on Criminal Justice: An Abolitionist Framework in Practice
Defunding the Police and Reimagining Public Safety
Zohran Mamdani’s views on criminal justice are rooted in the abolitionist framework, which seeks not merely to reform the carceral system but to dismantle it and build new institutions that address the root causes of harm. His most prominent and consistent position is the call to defund the police, a policy he articulates not as a simple budget cut but as a fundamental reallocation of resources from punitive systems to life-affirming ones. Mamdani argues that the New York City Police Department (NYPD), with its multi-billion-dollar budget, functions primarily as a management tool for the inequalities created by capitalism, tasked with containing the social problems that stem from poverty, mental illness, and homelessness rather than solving them. He advocates for significantly reducing the NYPD’s funding and redirecting those billions of dollars into universal housing, fully-funded schools, robust mental healthcare services, community-led violence interruption programs, and substance use treatment centers.
This perspective is informed by his analysis that policing is an institution with origins in slave patrols and strikebreaking, designed to protect property and maintain a racialized social order. For Mamdani, true public safety cannot be achieved through a system with this history and function. His stance places him in direct opposition to the “law and order” politics of more moderate Democrats, including Mayor Eric Adams, and has made him a primary target for conservative media. However, he maintains that the data supports his view, often pointing to studies that show investments in housing, education, and healthcare are far more effective at reducing crime than increasing police presence. His position is a core component of the Democratic Socialists of America platform and represents the most radical edge of the criminal justice debate in New York State politics.
Decarceration and Ending “Law and Order” Politics
Beyond defunding the police, Mamdani’s criminal justice agenda includes a comprehensive suite of decarceration policies. He supports closing Rikers Island and opposing the construction of new jails, arguing that the city should be reducing its jail population, not building new cages. He is a proponent of ending cash bail, not just for low-level offenses but across the board, viewing it as a form of wealth-based detention that disproportionately impacts poor people and communities of color. His platform also includes decriminalizing sex work, ending the war on drugs, and terminating all contracts between New York City public schools and the NYPD to remove police officers from educational settings. Each of these policies is designed to shrink the footprint of the carceral state and reduce the number of people entangled in the criminal legal system.
Mamdani’s abolitionist vision is ultimately a positive one, focused on building what advocates call “a world without prisons.” This involves creating community-based restorative justice programs to handle conflict and harm outside of the punitive system. His legislative work, detailed on his official assembly page, consistently reflects these principles. While he operates within a political system that is largely hostile to abolition, he uses his platform to shift the Overton window and champion policies that move the state away from reliance on policing and incarceration. For Mamdani, the fight for criminal justice transformation is inextricably linked to the fights for housing, healthcare, and economic justice–all part of a single struggle to build a society where everyone’s needs are met, rendering the brutal apparatus of the carceral state obsolete.