American prisons and jails hold over 2.1 million individuals at any given time and almost every one of these individuals will return to their community once they have been found innocent or complete the sentence imposed for their unlawful conduct. This amounts to 10 million individuals returning home to their communities from state and federal prisons and local jails each year. […]
News and Articles
Why conservatives need to work harder to improve public defense
Seventy-five days: That’s how long a Wisconsin man languished in jail, deprived of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. With his case helping drive a new class-action lawsuit, Wisconsin now joins an ignominious group of states, including Louisiana and Missouri, in which the courts have been asked to correct wildly deficient spending on public defense. The suggestion that the […]
Koch network leads coalition urging businesses to hire former inmates
KEY POINTS A broad coalition of business groups is pledging to hire workers with criminal backgrounds in the wake of a new federal law aimed at reducing incarcerations. The movement is spearheaded by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, who enlisted the support of the Society for Human Resource Management. A broad coalition of business groups is […]
‘THE SIXTH AMENDMENT DOESN’T SHUT DOWN WHEN THE GOVERNMENT DOES’
As the government shutdown extends over a month with no end in sight, public defenders say their clients are being denied access to justice due to staffing shortages in federal jails and courts. New York assistant federal defender Jennifer Willis told The Appeal that she and her colleagues have been barred from visiting clients in […]
Trump granted me clemency, giving me a second chance. Others deserve the same.
My life was saved by many fighting for justice reform. I want to save the lives of other prisoners who are nonviolent but still incarcerated. A year ago, I was sitting in a federal prison in Alabama as a nonviolent offender, hoping that my prayers for mercy from a life sentence would be heard. This weekend, […]
Second chances: Employers find dedicated workers in those trying to rebuild their lives
When Mitch Baartman returned to Empire Car Wash as general manager in November after a few years away, he faced a common problem: He was short-staffed. To fill the gap, Baartman reached into a labor pool he knew to be reliable and immediately available: Work-release inmates at the South Dakota State Penitentiary. “I wasn’t seeing […]
How Conservatives Learned to Love Free Lawyers for the Poor
Christy Perry, a Republican state representative and co-owner of a gun shop in Boise, regularly travels with her husband to gun shows to sell their wares. Voters come to her booth so often that her husband jokingly plunked a sign next to the AR-15s: “Gun talk only. No politics.” A couple of years ago, Perry […]
Poll suggests N.C. would welcome criminal justice reform
While 21 percent of respondents said the criminal justice system treats everyone fairly, 79 percent of respondents disagreed. A majority of those surveyed said they believe there are structural inequalities within the criminal justice system that benefits the wealthy over the poor and working-class. Fifty-five percent of respondents said white people enjoy substantially better outcomes […]
Ring: Mandatory minimums aren’t justice
By: Kevin Ring, 08/04/2015 Defenders of America’s criminal sentencing laws have relied on just two arguments for the last 20 years: Lengthy mandatory minimum sentences have caused crime to fall and have helped prosecutors persuade guilty defendants to cooperate against others. These arguments served supporters of the status quo well because they had superficial appeal. […]
There’s a Wave of New Prosecutors. And They Mean Justice.
In the past two years, a wave of prosecutors promising less incarceration and more fairness have been elected across the country. Republicans and Democrats are among the reformers, and they’re taking over district attorney offices in red and blue states. Five progressive D.A.s have been elected in major cities in Texas, of all surprising places, […]