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 American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island said lawmakers got it wrong when it comes to some new prison sentences. More than two dozen laws that go into effect in January either create new crimes or increase prison sentences, according to the organization. The report says lawmakers tend to be overzealous in creating new laws and that the result is contributing to unnecessary incarceration.“
NBC 10 Rhode Island
December 18, 2018
Read More"The bill in question — Kristen’s Law — would allow the possibility of a life sentence for anyone who sells, delivers or distributes an illegal drug that leads to a fatal overdose. The bill is named after Kristen Coutu, a 29-year old Cranston woman who died following an overdose of fentanyl-laced heroin in 2014. Coutu’s family has backed the bill."
Providence Journal
June 25, 2018
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