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.
"When progressive reformers win in law enforcement and criminal justice races, they are doing so in spite of the Democratic Party, not because of it. All of this would seem to be an easy fix, but it gets to the root of the matter. Does the Democratic Party really care about black people or do they just want our votes?"
The Intercept
August 19, 2018
Read More"Even as crime rates and prison admissions have fallen over the past decade, ever-lengthening criminal sentences have left Florida prisons full of inmates and in need of a record $2.4 billion — a budget-busting challenge for the state’s next governor to resolve. How he or she would do so falls on a single but complex question: Does Florida’s harsh penal system need reform?"
Florida Times Union
August 17, 2018
Read More"On Tuesday, however, the police-reform movement won a victory over Clarke’s legacy in the county, turning out his successor and former deputy in the Democratic primary for sheriff. Earnell Lucas won roughly 57 percent of the vote, handily defeating Acting Sheriff Richard Schmidt, who took 34 percent."
The Atlantic
August 15, 2018
Read More"Idaho is one of just three states that provides its prison inmates virtually no way to earn time off for good behavior behind bars, and its “compassionate release” program for terminally ill inmates is among the nation’s most restrictive."
The Spokesman-Review
August 14, 2018
Read More"The ballot question asks: 'Are you in favor of providing constitutional rights to the victims of crime, including the right to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect, and the right to be informed and have a voice in the judicial process?' The association, in a press release, said the law actually makes much broader changes to the law and skews the process in which a defendant is presumed innocent."
Louisville Courier Journal
August 13, 2018
Read More"Push for commutations is spurred by the passage of State Question 780, which starting July 1, 2017, made nonviolent drug possession offenses and low-level property offenses misdemeanors instead of felonies. Steele led the call for the state question, which was approved in November 2016 by 58 percent of Oklahoma voters."
Tulsa World
August 11, 2018
Read More"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"When it comes to pretrial release, Americans are presumed innocent until proven guilty and the bottom line is that Alaska’s policy now ensures that release decisions are based on public safety, not ability to pay. It is a judge, not an algorithm, who makes the ultimate decision. The research is clear: paying money to a bail bondsman does not reduce risk of re-arrest."
Juneau Empire
August 6, 2018
Read More"SQ 781 requires that the money saved from not warehousing people whose lives were salvageable must be diverted annually to county governments for use on community rehabilitation programs, such as mental health and substance abuse services."
Tulsa World
August 5, 2018
Read More"As part of the reforms, in the past year the state has saved $12.2 million, doubling original projections. Over the next decade, the state is expected to save $262 million, and reinvest 70 percent of the savings into programs and policies to reduce recidivism and support victims of crime. The state has also shed its claim as the incarceration capital of the world this year. Louisiana’s state prison population is at 32,743 this week, the lowest it has been in more than 20 years, and down from its peak of 40,568 in 2012."
The Daily Comet
August 5, 2018
Read More"In January 2018, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he would pursue an end to money bail for nonviolent offenders, as well pre-trial reforms, including timely evidence discovery and speedy trial requirements. But Governor Cuomo’s budget bill did not include any of these proposed criminal justice reforms, leaving room for Nixon to challenge him on these issues from the left."
In These Times
August 3, 2018
Read More"The consent decree includes many of the reforms suggested by the Police Accountability Task Force and U.S. Department of Justice reports, both issued in the wake of the release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video in November 2016. Unlike those suggested reforms, though, the consent decree will come with an independent monitor empowered to track and oversee reforms and a federal judge who can force the city’s hand if it doesn’t implement them."
Chicago Reporter
July 27, 2018
Read More"Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the libertarian group bankrolled by the billionaire Koch network, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which defends the Bill of Rights and has been associated with progressive policies, have teamed up to host a bipartisan panel to discuss ways to end mass incarceration in Missouri."
Missouri Net
July 27, 2018
Read More"Measures expected to be pursued to stem the number of people behind bars in Missouri include pushes for granting more clemency petitions, defending a law that limits the amount of money municipalities can take in from fines, and better funding public defenders."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
July 27, 2018
Read More"Mass incarceration has torn families apart and decreased the resources our state could be using to actually keep people safe: better schools, universal health care and good-paying jobs."
Amsterdam News
July 26, 2018
Read More"So why these new phones? The sheriff says idle inmates can mean trouble. 'This allows them to do something individually instead of in a group inside the facility,' Sheriff Taylor said. 'If inmates start giving up problems then this is the item that we take away from them and this is a very important item'."
WSPA Spartanburg
July 25, 2018
Read More"ACLU-Vermont released a candidate survey to all of Vermont state’s attorney candidates who will appear on the ballot this fall. The apparent focus of this survey was to enlighten voters on the attitudes of our candidates for office on issues of mass incarceration, and racial disparities in prosecution, among other issues....I found it concerning that ACLU-Vermont did not include any discussion or questions as to the role of victims in the criminal justice system or how state’s attorney candidates would serve crime victims and enforce victim rights."
The Vermont Digger
July 19, 2018
Read More"The idea behind Proposition 47, which passed by a wide margin in 2014, was to reduce certain non-violent, non-serious felonies to misdemeanors in order to ensure that the resources of the criminal justice system are more wisely allocated, and that prison and jail beds are reserved for the offenders who are the greatest risks to cause harm if they are left at liberty."
LA Times
July 18, 2018
Read More"Although SB 91 has had its share of critics, it is important to remember why lawmakers overwhelmingly decided that Alaska's system had lost its shine back in July 2016. First, the system was not accomplishing its mission, as 63 percent of those who left prison in Alaska in 2011 returned within three years. Also, the exploding costs associated with a prison population that had grown 27 percent from 2006 to 2016, left the state with a smaller budget for other priorities like education and health care. Without SB 91, the prison population would have surged another 27 percent. "
Alaska Daily News
July 16, 2018
Read More"Over the last few years, California has made necessary criminal justice policy changes. What remains undone is the systems change that fleshes out those policies. AB 1065 and other bills like it will help get that change under way."
LA Times
July 14, 2018
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