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.
“A year ago, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley condemned a sentencing reform bill backed by Ted Cruz as ‘lenient’ and ‘dangerous.’ Eight months later, it was Cruz’s turn. Explaining his opposition to a sentencing reform bill backed by Grassley, Cruz described it as dangerously lenient.“
The American Conservative
October 10, 2018
Read More“What’s most striking about this program is hearing prison officials talk about a newfound sense of purpose. They no longer reduce success to statistics about arrests or disciplinary infractions. They tell stories of individuals gaining control of their lives and reconnecting with estranged family members. And they use the word “dignity” a lot, much like their counterparts in Europe. They take pride in the idea that they are truly a department of correction.“
The Marshall Project
October 9, 2018
Read More“Not long ago, Texas was viewed as a leading state on criminal justice reform. Former Gov. Rick Perry signed legislation that reduced the prison population and was regarded as a model for the country — embodying both compassionate and fiscal conservatism. Our state’s efforts were then embraced by federal leaders, with Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn championing legislation to reduce harsh federal sentences for drug offenses. But now Cruz and Cornyn have become the face of opposition to sentencing reform, and without their support, our state began losing its leadership role on this critical issue.“
Houston Chronicle
October 6, 2018
Read More“Kansas is in a crisis. For several weeks, the prison population has soared beyond capacity. In fact, our prison population has quadrupled since the 1980s despite steady declines in crime. Our gubernatorial candidates have not mentioned this crisis. The candidates talk about education, taxation and industry, but not about the horrifically expanding prison system that likely would scuttle advances in each of these areas.“
Topeka Capital-Journal
October 3, 2018
Read More“What’s more, people in prison currently are barred from obtaining federal Pell Grants to assist with postsecondary education costs, and Florida state laws prevent people who are currently or were formerly incarcerated from accessing the state’s Bright Futures grant, the largest pool of state financial aid for college. Collectively, these laws work together to form a de facto education ban for many people whether they are in prison or not. When barriers are removed, however, enrollment rates increase, which has benefits for everyone.“
Miami Herald
October 2, 2018
Read More“Reducing the number of people in Arkansas prisons is one of the goals of gubernatorial candidate Jared Henderson. Monday Henderson released his plan for reforming Arkansas’s criminal justice system to address what he calls the "epidemic of mass incarceration" in the state.“
Little Rock Public Radio
October 1, 2018
Read More“Issue 1 would reduce Ohio’s bloated prison population, which has hovered around 130 percent capacity for years, and redirect the cost savings into drug treatment programs and community safety. People struggling with addiction should be sent to treatment, not prison. People who make one misstep while on probation deserve a second chance. Issue 1 will provide these opportunities, and in turn, these people can contribute to their families and local communities.“
Ohio Herald-Star
September 30, 2018
Read More“These bills are a step in the right direction, but I encourage Oklahoma's leaders to take additional steps to ensure that punishments meted out to Oklahoma's mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts are fair and proportional. Our nation's decades-long experiment in over-incarceration has shown, over and over, that harsher sentences don't yield safer streets, and locking women up unnecessarily is a poor use of taxpayer dollars.“
The Oklahoman
September 29, 2018
Read More“A lawsuit brought by a Compton resident detailing an alleged beating by deputies is just one nearly three dozen federal civil rights lawsuits alleging brutality and racial bias at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office.“
The Appeal
September 28, 2018
Read More“If Amendment 4 passes it will enshrine into our state constitution discrimination against convicted murderers and sex offenders that will make enfranchising them virtually impossible. While some may point to the serious nature of their offenses, they have nothing to do with voting; the punishment of disenfranchisement does not fit the crime.“
Florida Sun Sentinel
September 28, 2018
Read More“In his campaign for re-election, Cruz has shattered that truce. He has targeted otherwise bipartisan rhetoric about criminal justice reform as the subject for convenient campaign season attacks. It cheapens the debate and stifles the sort of progress that Texas Republicans once took pride in.“
Houston Chronicle
September 27, 2018
Read More“Andrew Speno, the state director for the group Right on Crime, spoke about criminal justice reform in Oklahoma and how the state became No. 1 in the U.S. in terms of prison population.“
Houston Chronicle
September 27, 2018
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“Wisconsin is positioned to address the problems of overcrowded and unsafe prisons at the same time. Assuming there is only one solution, e.g. building new prisons, to a problem is folly. Old prisons that pose significant risk to officers and inmates alike need to be addressed and closed if necessary. It would be foolish to not examine why so many prisons are needed in the first place. The legislature and the administration should closely examine if truth sentencing, as it exists today, simply results in warehousing people. As Governor Thompson suggested it’s not benefitting public safety.“
Right on Crime
September 24, 2018
Read More“In an era of both mass incarceration and rampant, divisive partisanship, Georgia has become the standard bearer for bipartisan criminal justice reform. It is critically important that our state continues its work in reducing overreliance on correctional control through strong, evidence-based policy reforms. We will be safer, stronger, and better for it.“
Atlanta Magazine
September 24, 2018
Read More“Issue 1 would reduce penalties for possessing and using drugs such as heroin, fentanyl, meth and cocaine. Under the proposed law, having those drugs would be misdemeanors and not felonies. Judges would also be prohibited from sentencing users to jail or prison unless it's their third or more conviction in two years.“
News 5 Cleveland
September 24, 2018
Read More“Smart Justice Connecticut draws upon the expertise of people living with criminal records, like Curtis, in the belief that those closest to the situation are best able to offer innovative solutions to the problems of mass incarceration and its systemic inequities. Yet, those with this special, experiential expertise are typically kept out of the conversation. They remain furthest from the centers of political power, are excluded from decision-making, and lack the resources to effect change. Smart Justice seeks to empower them.“
Greenwich Time
September 23, 2018
Read More“Correctional officers and their families never forget the daunting conditions they face every day inside the state’s prisons. The money they pay into their union’s political coffers ensures that elected officials won’t forget, either.“
LA Times
September 23, 2018
Read More“Chicago's homicide clearance rate – the percentage of cases in which police arrest or identify a suspect – fell from 17.1 in 2017 to 15.4 during the first six months of 2018, the data shows. If that rate holds through the end of the year, it would be the sixth consecutive annual decline.“
USA Today
September 21, 2018
Read More“The problem with Amendment 4 is that it perpetuates discrimination and bigotry against a sub-class of former prisoners and convicted felons, namely those convicted of murder and sex offenses. All the talk of Amendment 4 supporters about second chances, redemption, reintegration into the community, etc. rings hollow and opportunistic when they made the decision to exclude murderers and sex offenders from the franchise and to enshrine this form of discrimination into the state constitution.“
Prison Legal News
September 19, 2018
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