Because 90% of all prisoners in the United States are in state facilities, the work that states are doing to reduce their prison populations is crucial. Attempting to end mass incarceration necessitates realizing this is a situation requiring not one national solution, but fifty state solutions. Below are current state solutions that could be effectively modeled by other states for meaningful reform.
"Pandora Lobacz, a teacher who was beaten at a juvenile prison last year, said Walker's approach wasn't working because she believed he had not put good people in charge of the Department of Corrections. He would learn about understaffing and other problems if he would visit a prison, she said. "
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
August 7, 2018
Read More"On Monday morning, more than 40 attorneys sent a letter to all the judges in the county saying they will not be accepting new cases until the county commissioners agree to a recommendation for a pay raise. The move comes after more than two months of negotiating with the commissioners....The letter says that there has been no increase in the fees since 1995 and that Licking County has the second lowest fees in the state, behind only Vinton County."
Columbus Dispatch
July 23, 2018
Read More"Legislators ignored the warning and instead made cuts, leaving the agency with a $79 million deficit in its $2.3 billion budget, and not enough money to pay for inmate healthcare, which the state is legally required to provide. To make up the shortfall, Corrections Secretary Julie Jones announced last week she was cutting substance abuse and mental health treatment programs and eliminating re-entry and work-release services that prepare high-security inmates for life out of prison."
Tampa Bay Times
May 6, 2018
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