The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/corrections/prisoner-reentry/)
Prisoners in Washington State have filed a lawsuit against Gov. Jay Inslee and state corrections chief Steven Sinclair asking for the release of elderly inmates to halt the spread of the coronavirus. This and similar actions elsewhere are adding long-needed momentum to the movement to reduce mass incarceration, writes an inmate.
Adult offenders who participated in rehabilitation programs committed fewer offenses compared with adults who did not participate, according to an analysis released Monday by the National Institute of Justice.
Reformers are celebrating the fact that 19 states have restored the right to vote to felons. But the achievement is a distraction from efforts to address the deeper inequities of America’s justice system, writes a TCR columnist.
Tens of thousands of Americans are sent back to prison each year for offenses as minor as neglecting to tell their probation officer they changed address. A new study argues this is another reason to question a community supervision system that is more concerned with control than rehabilitation.
Speaking at the Harry Frank Guggenheim Symposium on Crime in America, Jim McGreevey, who now chairs the New Jersey Reentry Corporation, argued that most community supervision programs lack the resources to offer the practical skills needed to help individuals navigate the complex transition from prison to civil society once they have completed their sentence.
Jeremiah Bourgeois was convicted of murder at age 14, with every expectation he would spend the remainder of his life in prison. A collection of his writings for The Crime Report, published by Amazon this month, tells an extraordinary story of how one man found a path back to redemption—and freedom— after spending 27 years inside America’s carceral state.
New Jersey topped the list of 43 states that passed legislation last year aimed at reducing barriers faced by people with criminal records in employment, voting, jury duty, and many other areas of daily life, according to the latest annual report of the Collateral Consequences Resource Center.
A new report by the Council of State Governments Justice Center says that only 10 states allow all people behind bars to access college and employment certification courses, while the rest prohibit some inmates from participating.
A Brooklyn group no longer will counsel released Rikers Island jail inmates after its founder was charged with threatening a neighbor, and a staffer allegedly conspired to smuggle drugs into a city jail.
Maryland is creating a new coed prisoner reentry center, but women’s advocates say departing female inmates need more help than men do.