Candidate Cynthia Nixon unveils her criminal justice platform

ALBANY — Democratic candidate for governor Cynthia Nixon unveiled her criminal justice platform Thursday, calling for making police misconduct records publicly available and ending “needless arrests” for low-level offenses that could be handled with tickets.

Nixon, the former “Sex and the City” actress who is challenging Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in a Sept. 13 Democratic primary, also repeated her calls to legalize marijuana and end cash bail. Her other proposals include:

• Ending “needless arrests” for “ticketable” offenses such as jumping a subway turnstile, carrying an open container and selling loose cigarettes.
• Making state prisoners who are at least 55 years old and have served at least 15 years eligible for possible parole release, saying they pose little risk to public safety.
• Allowing anyone younger than 18 charged with any felony to be treated in Family Court. This would expand on a law Cuomo previously signed that applies to those younger than 18 who have been accused of misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies.

“Everyone deserves to be treated equally under the law and to feel safe in the places they call home. But right now our justice system criminalizes communities of color and the impoverished, filling our prisons with people who don’t belong there,” Nixon said in a statement.

Cuomo also backs a proposal to end cash bail and decriminalize (though not legalize) possession of small amounts of marijuana.