The United States holds about 2 million people in federal and state prisons, local jails, juvenile facilities, and other commitment centers, a mix of disconnected federal, state, and local systems. The rate of imprisonment has more than quadrupled over the last four decades and those incarcerated are disproportionately people of color. Young lawmakers are building coalitions and creating broad based momentum around reforming and improving our criminal justice system. These include efforts to lessen the burden on communities, boost legitimacy of the system in the eyes of citizens, and materially improve the prospects of offenders to end a cycle of distrust and demoralization.
2023 Criminal Justice Reform Advisory Council
The 2023 advisory council advanced a national conversation on the criminal justice system and engaged lawmakers in peer-to-peer dialogues and expert-informed discussions. Participation does not imply support of all approaches.
Money bail was originally established as collateral to ensure that a defendant showed up to court for their trial but can result in unconvicted people being held in detention due to the fact they could not afford their bail. Bail reform reduces jail populations, thus freeing up community resources for use elsewhere, and begins to correct the balance on the over-criminalization of low-level offenses. With significant bipartisan support, many states have created innovative policies to ensure defendants are receiving affordable bail, and reforming or eliminating cash bail.
Court fines and fees were originally intended to discourage crime, but have increasingly been used to fund court and prison systems. These disproportionately impact communities of color and burden defendants and their families with critical resources.
Prescriptive mandatory minimums disproportionately impact poor people of color and have led to the mass incarceration rate currently experienced in the United States. Mandatory minimums also take away from the discretion of a judge in cases, especially those involving illegal substances leading to longer sentences than they may have otherwise received. Legislation has worked to roll back, reform, or abolish practices of excessive and unnecessarily long prison sentences for certain crimes, including mandatory minimums.
Juvenile and adult justice have differing goals. Adult justice seeks to punish individuals for crimes they commit whereas juvenile justice is focused on rehabilitation and the best interest of the child. Youth under the age of eighteen who are accused of committing a delinquent or criminal act are typically processed through a juvenile justice system, although some may be placed in adult facilities depending on the state. Being placed in facilities outside of the home, especially those intended for adult offenders results in negative outcomes for juvenile offenders and increases recidivism.
States across the country are grappling with overwhelming prison populations, public safety concerns, and ineffective or unacceptable criminal justice outcomes. Prison reform is a multi-factorial strategy to address the ineffectiveness of the prison and justice system. These strategies can range from reforming prison sentencing to investing in skill development and positive transitions back into the community. Some policymakers are turning toward justice reinvestment, a “data-driven approach to improve public safety, reduce corrections and related criminal justice spending, and reinvest savings in strategies that can decrease crime and reduce recidivism” to address these challenges. This model collects and analyzes the sources and efficacy of criminal justice expenditures, then implements policy changes to better use those resources. This allows moving funding toward effective community-based programs as part of the justice system.
Thirty-seven states have “banned the box,” removing conviction history questions from job applications, and improving work opportunities for those with criminal convictions
Ninety-five percent of those incarcerated in the criminal justice system will eventually be released and they face numerous obstacles in reintegrating into society. A criminal record and lack of work experience or absence from the workplace correlate to low employment rates. Prison sentences could and should be used to give incarcerated individuals the education and meaningful skills they need to gain employment and support these individuals to successfully return to society.
Be a part of a network of lawmakers committed to governing effectively, passing more representative public policy, and increasing public trust in democracy.
