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.
“New Hampshire's law allowed the attorney general's office to seek reimbursement if it determined that a current inmate had sufficient assets to pay for all or part of his or her incarceration costs. Inmates who objected could request hearings, and courts were required to consider the inmate's other financial obligations.“
Concord Monitor
July 16, 2019
Read More“Grace explained that many judges, especially in Cook County, are using electronic monitoring as a “risk mitigation tool.” As an understanding emerges across the country that excessive bail is keeping too many people in jail because they can’t afford to pay, some judges remain hesitant to release individuals without restrictions. Meanwhile, the understanding of the risks of electronic monitoring is low, Grace said, as there have been few studies or reports. “
The Appeal
February 28, 2019
Read More“What’s most striking about this program is hearing prison officials talk about a newfound sense of purpose. They no longer reduce success to statistics about arrests or disciplinary infractions. They tell stories of individuals gaining control of their lives and reconnecting with estranged family members. And they use the word “dignity” a lot, much like their counterparts in Europe. They take pride in the idea that they are truly a department of correction.“
The Marshall Project
October 9, 2018
Read More“These bills are a step in the right direction, but I encourage Oklahoma's leaders to take additional steps to ensure that punishments meted out to Oklahoma's mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts are fair and proportional. Our nation's decades-long experiment in over-incarceration has shown, over and over, that harsher sentences don't yield safer streets, and locking women up unnecessarily is a poor use of taxpayer dollars.“
The Oklahoman
September 29, 2018
Read More"Young brains are still evolving. One prison is trying to take advantage of that."
The Marshall Project
May 8, 2018
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