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.
“Nearly a year after the First Step Act's passage, NBC News spoke to over a dozen people, including former and current elected officials, liberal and conservative advocates, and formerly incarcerated individuals, among others, who championed the reforms. They all agreed that the law's effects are tangible, and many believe the bipartisan coalition that produced it appears durable.“
NBC News
November 24, 2019
Read More“Now there’s another key indication that the First Step Act isn’t being implemented as criminal justice reform groups and some lawmakers intended. On Monday, the Justice Department announced that the Hudson Institute, a conservative DC-based think tank whose leaders have espoused harsh views on incarceration, would choose the members of an independent committee to help develop a risk assessment tool—a crucial component of the law, as it will be used to determine which federal offenders get access to certain rehabilitative programs and therefore establish how long they remain in prison. “
Mother Jones
April 11, 2019
Read More“But on Monday, their good faith was put to the test as President Trump released his budget priorities for 2020. Only $14 million was explicitly listed to finance the act’s programs. It’s unclear if additional funding could come from savings that could result from the early release of eligible prisoners under the measure or from reducing expenses elsewhere within the Department of Justice, as some advocates for the programs hope. The White House did not respond to questions.“
The Marshall Project
March 12, 2019
Read More“Many conservatives agree with progressives on important policies despite philosophical differences. Since the 2000s, red states such as Texas have begun to reduce incarceration, enhance in-prison rehabilitation programs, expand aid to former prisoners re-entering society, and even close prisons. The First Step Act—which received 87 votes in the GOP-controlled Senate—should provide Republican governors and state legislators with political cover to build on past success.“
Slate
March 1, 2019
Read More“That reality, combined with the fact that the generational cutback in the size of the federal prison system has caused no evident problems, suggest the First Step Act should be considered just that — a first step. The extremely broad coalition that supported the First Step Act can reasonably aim higher in its next round of proposed reform, returning the federal prison system to its traditional role as an important — but small — part of the U.S. correctional system.“
Washington Post
February 25, 2019
Read More“The First Step Act, which passed with overwhelming support from Republicans and Democrats, takes modest steps to alter the federal criminal justice system and ease very punitive prison sentences at the federal level. It affects only the federal system — which, with about 181,000 imprisoned people, holds a small but significant fraction of the US jail and prison population of 2.1 million. “
Vox
February 5, 2019
Read More“But enough about them; what about us? Speakers at the summit pushed repeatedly the message that bipartisan agreement had been a vital component in any sort of criminal justice reform, and that the essential components include people who define themselves as libertarians.“
Reason Magazine
November 15, 2018
Read More“Criminal justice reform advocates say sentencing reform provisions will be included in legislation unveiled shortly after midterm elections Tuesday, triggering an intense lame-duck struggle over attaching penalty reductions to a White House-backed prison reform bill.“
Washington Examiner
November 4, 2018
Read More“The First Step Act does more than initiate criminal justice reform; it restores dignity and decency back into the conversation and sends a message that despite our differences, with proper rehabilitation and help, we all deserve a second chance.“
Washington Examiner
October 22, 2018
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