The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/reforming-the-system/)
To honor Martin Luther King Day, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed three new bills designed to “undo the racial disparities in our criminal justice system,” while giving current inmates a “second chance.”
State legislators are debating a bill that would bring together data from justice agencies in an effort to break down “silos.” Idaho is one of seven states that still do not have a centralized data system.
Of more than 2,300 jurisdictions that elect their prosecutor, fewer than 700 presented voters with more than a single candidate in 2014 and 2016, finds a new study. Still, most voters live in more-populous areas that give them a choice.
The proposed changes in how the state and counties share jail costs will also promote accountability and reduce recidivism in the state’s troubled corrections system, the task force said.
The answer requires recognizing, first, that the current prison system is not designed to promote positive transformation, says Lila Kazemian, an associate professor at John Jay College and author of a new book examining the conditions that can foster “desistance” from crime in prison.
Even as New York politicians wrangle over efforts to water down the state’s historic new bail reform law, some politicians are pushing for even more fundamental reforms. A bill introduced by state Sen. Gustavo Rivera would require parole boards to evaluate an inmate’s “growth”—a measure he says would especially benefit elderly prisoners.
New jails built to accommodate the rising number of federal immigrant detainees and drug offenders awaiting trial are generating income for cash-strapped rural authorities, but they also create financial risk—and skew local priorities, says the Vera Institute of Justice.
Since an historic bail reform law went into effect Jan. 1, New York State lawmakers and commentators have been calling for amendments. Gov. Andrew Cuomo appears to be listening.
Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Missouri and Vermont will take part in the first phase of a Prison Research and Innovation Network created by the Urban Institute, with support from Arnold Ventures, to create “a community of practice for states interested in leveraging research, data, and evidence to inspire improvements in prison environments.”
In an op ed for the Star-Ledger, former Gov. Jim McGreevey said statistics showing that many of New Jersey’s 7,000 formerly incarcerated individuals were exposed to childhood trauma, chaos and violence were “staggering.”