Sanders: Candidate wants to slash prison populations.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is proposing a criminal justice overhaul that aims to cut the nation’s prison population in half, end mandatory minimum sentencing, ban private prisons and legalize marijuana. He says the current system does not fairly treat people of color, addicts or the mentally ill.

“We have a system that imprisons and destroys the lives of millions of people,” Sanders told the Associated Press before the release of his proposal Sunday. “It’s racist in disproportionately affecting the African American and Latino communities.”

Sanders was promoting the plan during a weekend of campaigning in South Carolina, where the majority of the Democratic electorate is African American.

As president, Sanders said he would abolish mandatory minimum sentencing and reinstate a federal parole system, end the “three strikes law” and expand the use of alternative sentencing, including community supervision and halfway houses. The goal is to reduce the prison population by onehalf.

“A very significant number of people who are behind bars today are dealing with one form or another of illness,” Sanders said. “These should be treated as health issues, not from a criminal perspective.”

The plan would legalize marijuana and expunge previous marijuana convictions, and end a cash bail system that Sanders says keeps people who have not been convicted of a crime languishing in jail because they cannot afford bail.