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.
"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"But this year, a group of California legislators is confronting police unions in ways once unthinkable. They argue the organizations are out of touch with public sentiment over how officers use force and interact with communities of color. The shift comes amid the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter and criminal justice reform movements."
LA Times
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 state Board of Parole is woefully understaffed, and two members who have deep political and police ties routinely reject prisoners without ever giving them a chance, a scathing new report by criminal justice activists charges."
New York Daily News
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"Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez has said the facility within the Del Valle jail is needed because the county’s current facilities are in poor physical shape. The setup splits the female population into four facilities, she said, which is inefficient and at times uncomfortable for the women who have to walk through men’s facilities."
Austin American-Statesman
August 11, 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"Congress has to take on many priorities. However, the fact that a staggering 2.3 million sit incarcerated in the purported “land of the free” demonstrates injustice of epidemic proportions—one that requires the immediate attention of both Congress and the public at large."
Alamosa Valley Courier
August 11, 2018
Read More"Gov. Scott Walker declined to meet with his corrections secretary as a crisis unfolded at the state’s teen prison and his staff deliberately kept him from visiting the facility, according to a new book by Walker’s former prisons chief."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
August 10, 2018
Read More"'I think anybody who's talking about that is driving away from the real issue in this race,' Walker said. 'I don't hear from voters about visiting anybody other than visiting victims of crime, who want me to focus on making sure that the violent criminals who'd be let out under the Democrat plan are not going to be let out any time soon'."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
August 9, 2018
Read More"Nestled away in the 200-page document was a policy to offshore around a third of Puerto Rico’s prison population – 3,200 inmates – to private facilities thousands of miles away within the US. The board claim the policy will help to save close to $400m over four years. The government insists it will be voluntary. But advocates describe it as a disaster waiting to happen."
The Guardian
August 7, 2018
Read More"'This can’t be inhumane because we do it to our pets,' he said in defense of the proposal. Ludeman explained to a Toledo Blade reporter that he had seen many TV shows where fictional criminals were able to slip out of an ankle monitor to commit more crimes. He insisted that implanting microchips would be 'painless' and 'humane.'"
The Appeal
August 7, 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"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"One solution is to have fewer crimes. There are — literally, as I noted in the Columbia Law Review a few years ago — so many crimes that not even the government can keep up with them all. The more crimes we create, the more criminals we create."
USA Today
August 7, 2018
Read More"'When you announce a clemency initiative and you raise hopes and expectations, frankly it’s cruel to not actualize it,' said Steve Zeidman, director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at the CUNY School of Law, which is currently helping about 25 people with clemency applications and worked with Judith Clark on her application. 'Multiple people on the inside have told me that false hope is worse than no hope at all'."
The Appeal
August 6, 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"Despite the police bureau's insistence that the grenades should not have caused injuries, plentiful evidence exists documenting that the devices frequently cause injury and can even kill. The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon has repeatedly urged the Portland police to stop using these types of explosives on crowds of protesters because of the potential for serious injuries."
Willamette Week
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