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.
“The states were ranked based on four primary data points; the number of reentry programs, number of current and ex-inmates, background check restrictions and re-incarceration percentages. The study claims that Delaware has a 3-year recidivism rate of 64.90 percent, 8 percent of the state’s population being either a current or former inmate and a total of five reentry programs. “
Delaware State News
August 24, 2019
Read More“At one point, every presidential candidate pretended he was running for sheriff. “Tough on crime” was considered the ultimate badge of honor — in both parties. Bill Clinton even rushed home during his campaign to execute a mentally disabled murderer. Times have clearly changed. “
National Review
May 29, 2019
Read More“The state recognizes that most villages can’t afford their own police force and has a special class of law enforcement, called village public safety officers, to help. But it’s not working. In the 60 years since Alaska became a state, some Alaska Native leaders say, a string of governors and Legislatures have failed to protect indigenous communities by creating an unconstitutional, two-tiered criminal justice system that leaves villagers unprotected compared with their mostly white counterparts in the cities and suburbs. “
Anchorage Daily News
May 16, 2019
Read More“In cities from coast to coast, the odds that police will solve a shooting are abysmally low and dropping. Homicides and assaults carried out with guns lead to arrests about half as often as when the same crimes are committed using other weapons or physical force.“
The Trace
January 24, 2019
Read More“To its supporters, Amendment 4 (which would also allow former felons to serve on juries and run for public office) represents a potential civil rights triumph: It could enfranchise more people at once than any single initiative since women’s suffrage.“
New York Times
September 26, 2018
Read More"These items, be they unattended vehicles or packages, are intended to be stolen. Police typically leave them in high-crime neighborhoods in spots where thieves are most likely to take them. A parked bait car, for instance, would be left in an area where car theft is a problem. Bait devices are rigged with surveillance equipment and tracking devices so that authorities, usually waiting nearby, can quickly catch offenders who make off with them."
Vox
August 7, 2018
Read More"It's very difficult to get out of public housing with a criminal record because Portland's housing market is so tight right now and it's so easy for landlords to just run a background check and if you've got anything on there, anything at all even arrests they're just no we're not going to rent to you because we have a million other people that we could rent to."
Fox 12 Oregon
July 6, 2018
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